Milwaukie South - January

70 burritos, 57 neighbors, 28 volunteers, 2 tons of laundry and a partridge in a...never mind.😂

Wednesday night was busy! We celebrated our NINTH birthday with cupcakes and burritos courtesy of our friends from Providence’s Better Outcomes through Bridges (BOB) program. Thank you to Becky, Alex, Mikaila and Jon for coming out to our event, bringing food and running the hygiene table.

We were also helped out by youth from Good Roots Community Church. Pastor Justin and Good Roots, you have a lot to be proud of - the team you sent went above and beyond serving our neighbors as well as other volunteers. And they have the “smile with your eyes” DIALED. They also make a mean cup of coffee.

Pastor Sara from Storyline Community brought balloons and birthday necklaces so we could celebrate appropriately, and helped run check in. 🎉

Stephanie from Milwaukie Lutheran Church brought her family and together they ran an impressively organized clothes closet, providing neighbors with warm clothing.

Blake with Outside In provided harm reduction services and connected with neighbors. He even posed for a birthday photo with us.

We checked in with neighbors staying in a nearby motel and when we asked how that was going, we heard, “awesome!” and “amazing!” One neighbor was blown away that a Greater Good NW caseworker would meet with them on Christmas Eve so they could complete intake and spend Christmas indoors. Brothers T and J couldn’t wait to tell us that they completed intake earlier that day and when they left laundry they were headed to their motel room!

Volunteers Dan and Sarah delivered bottled water courtesy of Grocery Outlet and shared that they had a chance to visit with T and J, and it was all they could do to hold back the tears when they heard the brothers’ story. Another neighbor brought their sweet service pup to the event and visited with nearly every volunteer on site.

We met several folks who have never been to a LoveOne event before and it was a little difficult for them to understand that there are no strings attached to what we provide. They kept commenting that “everyone is just so NICE here.” Truth be told, that’s one of our favorite parts about LoveOne events, too.

Community. Relationships. Belonging. ❤