From Shawna: Feeding Others Feeds The Soul

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For many of us, the holidays are about food. Reminiscing about family meals and recipes (creamed onions, anyone?), baking pies and decorating gingerbread houses, flipping through recipes, and sharing your results with loved ones.

As you know, all that is going to look a bit different this year, thanks to COVID. The need in our community is greater than ever, so we are inviting you to build community with us and share food with those who need it this holiday season. Feeding others is a surefire way to feed our own souls. We’ve got a handful of COVID-safe opportunities for you to build community with us through sharing food. Hopefully one of these will work for you:

  1. Cook and deliver a dish for one of our many “drop-off potlucks” this season: Thanksgiving Day, mid-December dessert party, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Sunday brunches, and more… See all the options and sign up here! [Pictured right is a volunteer at our most recent Sunday brunch!]
  2. Coordinate your own “drop off potluck” with your personal or workplace networks – we’ll set you up with an easy and sharable online sign-up on a date that suits you.
  3. Sponsor a meal for one of our three emergency shelters by catering a dinner from your favorite local restaurant – they all need a boost right now. We’ll help you order!
  4. Make sack lunches at home for one of our shelters – this is a great family activity and works as a service project for students. You’ll need to buy supplies and deliver. Click here for tips!
  5. Donate canned food or host a canned food drive for our shelter cooks – they work magic with donated food, so these specific shelf-stable items really stretch their recipes.
  6. Some folks are able to cook for large groups – we do that, too, if you want to prepare a meal for everyone in a shelter some night. It’s a big, but rewarding job!

Ready to get started? Great! Please reach out to me or Brielle on our team to find out more:

Sharing is what the holidays are all about!  Since we’re not able to feed our extended families a big, loving holiday meal, let’s join together and feed our neighbors ☺

Thank you for all you do for our community, we sure appreciate you!

Back to School

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Hard to believe, we know, but it’s nearly time for back-to-school supply shopping! Which can be a very exciting time for kids, unless their families aren’t able to provide the tools their kids need. To that end, Human Solutions has put together a list on Amazon of the key items we know the kids who live in our affordable apartment communities need most. That way, you can just click and send – we’ll do the rest!

Take a look at our list and send some supplies our way, please! The volumes are high because there are LOTS of kids in our housing, but you can just buy the amounts that work for you. If you’re the type to make it a clean sweep and fulfill the whole order, we won’t turn you down.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR KIDS IN LOW-INCOME FAMILIES TO START SCHOOL WITH ALL THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO SUCCEED!

donate clothes in portland

Do you have clothes or food to donate? Here’s how you can help!

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Human Solutions’ Family Center, a no-turn away emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness, located at 16015 SE Stark St. Portland, OR 97233, is accepting donations of the following:

  • New Underwear
  • New Socks
  • Coats
  • Winter Shoes
  • Blankets, Pillows, Sheets, Towels & Other Bedding

We also accept food donations of the following:

  • Bread: Hamburger Buns, Hotdog Buns, Sandwich Bread, Bagels
  • Non Perishables: Non-expired Canned Goods
  • Perishables: Within Sell Date ONLY, nothing moldy or overripe, in close-able containers

We accept clothing/bedding donations on Mondays from 10am-4pm.
We accept food donations on Tuesdays from 10am-4pm.

If you are unable to drop off your donations at these times or you have other items you’d like to donate, please contact the Donations & Volunteer coordinator, Emilie Friedman, at efriedman or (503) 278-1637.

Thanks so much!