Have funded a full-time, professional Outreach Team that works daily on our streets to compassionately engage Palisades homeless individuals and connect them with the essential services they need. We partner with The People Concern, a Santa Monica-based comprehensive homeless service organization that oversees our Outreach Team and provides a range of support services that include psychiatric and physical health care, food and clothing, assistance reestablishing personal identification documents, applications for financial assistance, assistance finding and moving into temporary and permanent housing or, when possible, reunification with family. Our Outreach Team leads each homeless person through the numerous steps and (often overwhelming) experience of becoming successfully housed.

Have funded “move-in” expenses for homeless people once housing has been located. Costs include first and last month’s rent and utilities deposits, a stove and refrigerator, bed and bedding, and basic furnishings. We help overcome some of the basic barriers to becoming housed by meeting these initial expenses.

Have provided weekly “meet-ups” at the beach and in the village for homeless individuals to meet our Outreach Team and local police officers. There our team offers services and assistance in securing housing. Bringing the services to our homeless people makes it easier for them to receive needed help. Local churches and other community volunteers provide brown bag lunches for the meet-ups in support of our outreach team and law enforcement coordination services. Donated supplies of warm clothing, sleeping bags, gloves, and socks are also provided at the meet-ups.

Have funded outreach services to severely mentally ill homeless individuals who are incapable of making the decision to leave the streets, where they remain highly vulnerable to predators, disease, and death.

Have conducted bi-monthly community forums for education, exploration, and discussion of local homeless-related issues and concerns. These forums feature presentations by professionals, elected officials, and leaders in the field of homeless services. The forums provide a safe space for dialogue, respectful expression of divergent views, and consensus-building about how our community can best deal with the dynamic challenges of homelessness.

Have produced a bi-monthly newsletter informing the community about our work, how community members can become involved, and the resources available to them for dealing with homeless people they encounter.

Have provided volunteer opportunities for community members to contribute leadership skills, funding, survival supplies to help our Outreach Team serve homeless people, and hands-on work to remove and clean up abandoned encampments.