New Spirit Lutheran in Tucson Homeless Blessings: 2023
View reports for our 2023 assembly on our assembly mission and ministry stories page and in this collection of blog posts.
For our 2023 synod assembly, New Spirit Lutheran Church in Tucson shares their story of working with homeless populations in Tucson through its Homeless Blessings program.
BOLDLY TRUSTING, SERVING AND GOING
Since 2014, New Spirit Lutheran Church has been serving and working with homeless populations in Tucson through its Homeless Blessings program. We first began joining other organizations at a park on Tucson’s west side, providing meals and distributing food items, hygiene and first aid items, used clothing and other items vital to surviving on the streets. In 2015, we moved our ministry to our campus on the east side of Tucson to serve the growing homeless population in our very neighborhood. NSLC Homeless Blessings’ mission is to connect homeless individuals and households with needed support, supplies, and services to bridge the gap between homelessness and housing. This past year, New Spirit not only met God’s call to trust and serve, but to also GO, as we boldly met unsheltered individuals where they lived.
The ministry has always survived on a shoestring budget of approximately $8,000 to $9,000 a year, as we relied on congregational contributions, in-kind donations and small grants from New Spirit’s Endowment fund. In the past two years, however, the Grand Canyon Synod has been generous in their support, which has helped us sustain the program at a higher service level.
GCS funds have enabled us to purchase bulk supplies of underwear and socks, winter gloves and hats, sleeping bags, tarps, water bottles, hygiene and feminine products, first aid products, seasonal toiletries like sunscreen and lotion, summer hats and sunglasses, flashlights and batteries, and packaged food.
NSLC has built valuable partnerships with the City of Tucson, Pima County, Old Pueblo Community Services, HOPE Inc., and the Office of the Police Examiner, which helps mediate undue harassment from law enforcement, to address the multiple needs of unsheltered individuals and families. It is through these partnerships that we’ve been able to advocate for the homeless, as well as connect them to mental health, medical and housing services. This past Fall, the City of Tucson gave 160 sleeping bags to NSLC’s Homeless Blessings program and awarded an in-kind grant for other supplies.
Not surprising, there is an upward trend in homelessness in Tucson, per the Point in Time count report that was conducted in 2022. Two of our volunteers assisted the City in conducting this count, visiting a number of homeless camps and establishing relationships with several unsheltered individuals. They continue to check in these folks every couple of months. For several months, one volunteer regularly distributed food and hygiene items to one homeless camp on the east side until she moved out of state.
NSLC Homeless Blessings program is currently serving over 300 individuals and families experiencing homelessness on Tucson's east side each year. We expect these numbers to increase. Volunteers are designated and trained to oversee distribution of supplies to participants identified as experiencing homelessness during each monthly outreach event. These volunteers follow distribution protocol to ensure inclusion, diversity, equity, and access to all participants. The monthly events are held at New Spirit, where a hot meal is provided, and food, clothing and other needed items are distributed. Additionally, care bags are assembled by volunteers and distributed to individuals and families that volunteers encounter on the streets and during special outreach events in the community.
New Spirit is so grateful for the support it has received from the Grand Canyon Synod for this ministry. Thank you!
