Every year on the Winter Solstice, Carpenter’s Place holds a vigilfor the homeless who died over the past year. It’s a solemn event, and one that never gets easier with time.
Carpenter’s Place is a day center for folks who don’t have permanent housing and relies heavily on donations throughout the year.
They aren’t alone in their mission to reach people where they are. The Rockford Rescue Mission will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year. Ted Tomita is the organization’s chief development officer. He says his organization serves two main populations:
“One is what we call our ‘overnight shelter guests.’ They all of a sudden became homeless-- whether it's loss of job domestic violence, drugs and addictions, so they actually know where to stay. And so we give them a warm place to stay in our shelter area.”
They run separate shelter areas for men and then women and children.
“Then the second group of folks we serve are the men and women who really have been deep in their addictions, deep in their unhealthy behaviors. And they say, 'Boy, I need to get a restart on life. I need to change what I've been doing.' And they apply for we call it a life recovery program.”
That’s a six to nine month on-site recovery program.
Tomita says the Rockford Rescue Mission relies heavily on financial support but also donations of need-based items and donations for its on-site thrift shop:
“And that thrift store takes donations of gently used clothing, home goods, just about anything you might find in your home that you want to, you know, finally get rid of. And then we sell that at our thrift store location here in town as well. And all of that funding from our thrift store goes right back to the programs and services we offer here in Rockford.”
One item they always need is laundry detergent:
“Imagine, you know 150 to 200 people staying with us each night, how much laundry you have to do. So we almost always have a need for detergent. We almost always have a need for travel size, hygiene items, you know, little shampoos, shampoos for showering, that sort of thing.”
Communications coordinator Nathan Haglund says they recently hired an outreach officer to grow the mission:
“His role now is going out to the community bringing sack lunches bringing thing things like you know, the travel size, you know, body wash and shampoo. So they're able to, you know, meet needs, you know, not just at our physical location, but you know, outside of the community in Rockford.”
The Salvation Army also takes donations at its locations in Rockford.
Carly Rice started a charity out of her home to just feed a few people who needed a meal and it has grown ever since. She says the pandemic exacerbated the demand for food and reaching those in crisis.
She believes helping address homelessness shouldn’t require an advanced degree to help someone transition into long-term housing. She says there are plenty of gaps for average citizens to offer what they can.
“One person might just have some shoes to donate, another person might be able to teach a class on balancing a checkbook, and another person might be able to fix computers. Everybody can contribute and be a part of the solution if they choose to.”
For those looking at where to start, many of the city’s volunteer opportunities are just a click away. For example, Carpenter’s Place posts an updated critical needs list on its website. Currently, it looks something like this -- Men’s and women’s t-shirts, backpacks, sleeping bags, and even hot sauce.
Yvonne Boose contributed to this report
