How did OHI start? How can I start connecting with neighbors?

We started with conversations on social media. Historically, people opposing shelters have resources (e.g. money, time, political networks) to quickly mobilize and push back--so we aim to mobilize those resources on our side as well! The OHI co-founders found each other through mutual friends (literally a friend saying “Oh, I know another woman who feels the same way as you, let me connect you two”) and also through the anti-shelter social media groups. We suggest: 

• Reaching out to friend networks and seeing if anyone feels as strongly as you do. Posting on Facebook can be a good way to elicit some initial responses from friends! Focus on people who live in your neighborhood.

• Scrolling through “opposing” Facebook groups or local Facebook groups where there has been discussion of shelters or homelessness in your neighborhood. Look for commenters who are countering the negative rhetoric and reach out to them. 

After making contact with a few people, set up an evening Zoom meeting to discuss “what should we do?”-- depending on the situation in your neighborhood, this might look like coming up with proactive ways to support homeless neighbors who already live there, or it may involve planning a response to opponents who are actively pushing back against a shelter coming to the neighborhood.

How do you make sure you are listening to and meeting the needs of people directly impacted by homelessness?

OHI is intentional about centering the voices of people directly impacted by homelessness and responding to their direct requests for support. While we develop relationships with non-profit shelter providers, we prioritize our relationships with shelter residents themselves and use the residents’ feedback and requests to guide our work.

We do this by connecting with residents just as we would with any new neighbor! We invite shelter residents to join our planning Zoom calls and our Facebook group. We stay in constant dialogue with our homeless neighbors about what is needed--whether it’s more on-site services at a shelter or material items like toiletries and winter gear--and we tailor our activities and advocacy to meet those needs.

Donations

Donations are a great way to engage neighbors AND help shelter residents at the same time. Many New Yorkers have too much STUFF and are looking for people in need who will appreciate the item. Initial call-outs for items are a great way to attract neighbors to Facebook pages and events like “Free Stores.” In addition to pre-loved items, OHI has had success with setting up online “Wish Lists” where neighbors and other supporters can purchase items for donation that shelter residents have requested. You can create wish lists on websites like ShopIN.nyc and Amazon and share the links by email, social media, and text.

Policy & Advocacy Work

We found that OHI quickly attracted very skilled advocates and social justice professionals. This group of volunteers quickly started planning ways to tackle the larger systems issues underlying the homelessness crisis and lay out a vision for what a more welcoming and integrated neighborhood can look like.

On the Upper West Side, members of this group initially assisted with researching and putting together content for a website dispelling myths about shelters and residents. They also organized a group of volunteers to attend weekly Community Board meetings to provide a counterweight to shelter opponents and make clear to policymakers that many neighbors want to welcome homeless New Yorkers.

Media & Communications Work

Facebook was OHI’s initial method for organizing. We formed a public Facebook page to “attract” other like-minded neighbors, but we learned that this also attracted trolls and those in opposition to the shelters. We eventually formed two sites: a public facing page and a private group for OHI volunteers to use as an organizing platform.

We suggest having a private group and using admission questions to confirm a person’s location and their commitment to supporting shelters in your neighborhood. We also set up a separate Gmail and Google Suite (in order to create google groups) to coordinate internal and external communication.

Protests and Art Actions

Protests and art actions can be important tools for sending a strong message of community support for homeless New Yorkers.

On the Upper West Side, OHI responded to a time-sensitive situation (trying to prevent the city from forcibly removing the men of the Lucerne to another location to placate opponents of temporary shelters) by planning a series of protest and art actions to draw public attention to the issue.

OHI leadership was mindful to center the voices of the directly impacted in all of these events, and all events after our first couple were planned in partnership with directly impacted individuals.

Some of these actions included: chalking messages of support in front of the shelter, a sleep-out in front of the Lucerne, a march to Gracie Mansion, multiple press conferences, letters to the Mayor, and much more.

Check out OHI’s Facebook page for more examples!

Experts in Housing Rights

New York City is home to a wide range of experts and organizations working to address housing and homelessness. We suggest reaching out to them and using their websites as resources.

On the Upper West Side, we partnered with organizations including VOCAL-NY, human.nyc, Safety Net Project, Neighbors Together, Coalition for the Homeless, and the Supportive Housing Network of New York.

At OHI, we emphasize that the true experts are those directly impacted by homelessness, so we encourage you to leverage the knowledge of your homeless neighbors.

Antiracism Work

Antiracism needs to infuse all aspects of this work so that problematic power structures aren’t replicated. It’s important for volunteers to educate and examine themselves and listen to directly impacted individuals.

We recommend reviewing these values from SURJ as a starting point. OHI is working on developing more comprehensive volunteer training that will include antiracism training.

You may also want to explore other ways to build antiracism into your work, like coming together with residents in discussion groups (e.g. antiracist book clubs).

How to Run a Free Store

A Free Store is a place to shop for what you need, like a thrift store or flea market, but with one price: free! Free Stores are a great way to provide homeless neighbors with items they need and want while also providing a service to other community members who may want to shop there.

• Pick a date and location: Ideally choose a location right in front of a shelter for maximum customers, but make sure you have wide sidewalks! We have typically hosted our stores without any kind of permits, but try not to block the full sidewalk.

• Put a call out for donations: Make a cute graphic listing donations you need, and advertise in local Facebook groups, send to your mailing list, ask any allies (e.g. local faith groups) to send to THEIR mailing lists. Be specific about donation needs, such as indicating items should be in good shape and clean, specifying adult vs. kids’ clothing, etc.

  • You may want to ask people to bring wrapped snacks and full-size toiletries, which are always popular items! You may also want to create an Amazon wishlist for some of these items, as well as multi-packs of socks and underclothes!

  • Keep in mind that there are some items that may not be allowed in the shelter (e.g. razors), so as you are building your wishlist, ask the shelter residents you know if there are any restrictions on items that you should be aware of.

• Arrange drop-offs: We usually ask people to bring donations the day of the event--either directly to the Free Store in the hour before the event starts or dropped off at the building of a volunteer who can easily transport items to the event. If your storage saints can sort and fold some of the items beforehand, even better! Make sure to indicate both the drop-off time and the event time--e.g., drop off donations 12pm-2pm, come and shop 1pm-3pm!

• Advertise to local shelters and others in need. Ask someone artsy in your group (a young person is great) to design a flyer specifying that a Free Store is happening. Ask shelter providers to slide the flyer under all doors and post in the lobby to make sure their residents are informed! If needed, you can also hand-deliver printed copies to shelters and ask them to distribute the flyers with meals. 

• Gather your volunteers! Create a Google sign-up sheet for people to fill each of the roles for the Free Store:

  • Picking up donations, or serving as a drop-off spot ahead of time

  • Sorting donations and setting up the event

  • “Staffing” the store, continuously refolding and arranging items and restocking tables, and…

  • Cleaning up and tearing down the store at the end (SO crucial).

• Assign a store manager and specific point people for “higher value” items like toiletries and socks. We usually let folks take unlimited amounts of clothes (but if there is limited supply, you can also limit to one bag) while handing out toiletries and other brand-new items in smaller quantities so that everyone gets what they need. For our holiday gift boutique (which featured many brand new items), we used a ticket system, where items were assigned 1 ticket, 2 ticket, or 0 ticket value, and each person was given 3 tickets to shop.

• Figure out your materials: You will need tables (ask the shelter if you can borrow tables, or have a volunteer who lives nearby bring them), potentially clothing racks or bookshelves (a volunteer probably has an extra!), crates or bins for storing items, hangers, spare bags to give your customers (ask folks to drop off extra bags with their donations!), signs for different tables, and masks and hand sanitizer.

• Media: You may want to assign a volunteer to take photos, but make sure they photograph from the backs of customers, or get permission to take a photo where someone’s face is visible--it’s important to respect the privacy of our homeless neighbors! You can also invite media and local elected officials to your event if you want!

• Day-of tips: 

  • Set up starts at least 1 hour before the event. Set up the tables while other volunteers get started sorting items and making signs. Put shoes under the tables, books on a bookshelf, jackets and suits on racks. You may want to have separate tables for different types of clothing (e.g. men’s, women’s). 

  • Donuts/coffee/tea can be provided if you wish, within the bounds of appropriate COVID precautions--we suggest wrapped grab-and-go food for safety!

  • Volunteers working at the tables should be assigned locations at least 15 minutes before the event begins. Let volunteers know which items go on which tables, and where to find new items to sort as they need to refill. 

  • Chalk the sidewalk with “free store, come shop!” to let people know what is going on.

  • Welcome people as they leave the shelter and hand them a bag to start shopping! We’ve found offering bags really helps our customers feel comfortable!

  • Encourage people to give big welcomes and offer to answer any questions from community members and/or customers. Volunteers helping customers shop and find the perfect item is a big part of the fun and beauty of a Free Store.

  • Have 1-2 volunteers assigned to direct customers who are unsure where to go and to watch out for masks. It’s important to take a good-faith approach in watching out for masks--assume someone forgot rather than scolding! Offer a mask to folks who aren’t wearing one, and politely ask folks to pull their masks up before approaching the table if needed.

  • People from the community who do not live at the shelter may stop by to shop-- that’s great! Remember that you can’t tell what someone’s need is by how they look. We generally haven’t found that we needed to restrict clothing or other used items, but we do make sure that we personally hand out toiletries and brand-new items so that everyone can get what they need.

  • Make sure you have volunteers available for cleanup afterwards! You need to know where your overflow will go, and ideally have a car to get it there!

Looking to join the Open Hearts Initiative?