Action Blog Post #5 Pt.2

1.) My partner and I traveled downtown POCO by ourselves to distribute our care packages, which included water bottles and granola bars. First and foremost, we offered the care packages we produced last week, and then we purchased additional sweets from a nearby grocery and handed them out as well to people experiencing homelessness. 

2.) We have had success in being able to go and help folks without parental supervision because we initially went with Kristi because we needed an expert present so we knew the dos and don’ts. Another achievement has been establishing a decent conversation with those individuals since we want to make sure that we learn about their stories and not just give them something and then leave. 

3.) One challenge we faced was staying safe because each time we approached someone they had a needle mark, so we had to be cautious to ensure they weren’t intoxicated. To overcome this, we must pay closer attention to body language and ensure that other people are there just in case something goes wrong. Another issue was actually locating multiple people experiencing homelessness because we expected to see a lot of people in the POCO region, but there was only a handful compared to when we went to Vancouver. This was unfortunate because we spent a lot of time looking for people yet still had treats leftover at the end. To avoid this in the future, we have learned to first explore the place and observe what the environment is like.  

4.) Our next step is to have small food items in the car, such as granola bars, candies, and water bottles, because we didn’t want our previous treats to go to waste. So, if we leave them in the car whenever we go out and observe individuals in need in parks or by the side of the road with a sign, we could give it to them.