89.
89 unique people came through our doors today between 2pm and 6pm to access mail, laundry, and showers, check their email, get a snack, hand warmers, blankets, and clean clothes, charge devices, talk to case managers, make a phone call, get a bus ticket home, take their meds, rest their legs, receive a cell phone, sign up for a class, and learn how brutally cold it will be this weekend.
It was the busiest day we have ever had at the Homeless Resource Center.
Two staff, one on-site case manager, and two shifts of three volunteers welcomed everyone in and created a safe place where guests could have the breathing room they simply do not get anywhere else. A place to regroup. A place to feel human again. A place to be met with kindness when the rest of their day has been anything but kind.
And even with the highest volume we’ve ever seen, we had zero police calls, zero major incidents, and a steady flow of people who felt respected and cared for.
This is what happens when you build a customer-service-centric model for people who are rarely treated like customers anywhere else. When you choose to offer the absolute best service to those who are often offered the least.
It is ordinary work that becomes extraordinary when you realize what it means to the people walking through our doors. Thank you for standing with us in it.