GMCC’s Drop-In Services has been a crucial part of our Wellbeing initiatives since 2022. Every Friday, from 11 AM to 2 PM (or until supplies run out, which they often do), GMCC opens our doors for community members to access showers, clothing, tents, sleeping bags, harm reduction supplies, medical care, resource navigation, as well as hot meals, groceries, & snacks. We have become a resource hub and safe space for unhoused neighbors to gather, which has been especially important during times of extreme weather and constant encampment sweeps.
Our current program has grown exponentially in the past few months. At the beginning of the year, we were seeing an average of 95 people each Friday, but this has recently increased to an average of 135 people. We are frequently running out of tents, food, and other supplies and reaching capacity for showers every week. With the increasing need, it has become really important for GMCC to rely on our volunteers, partners, and part-time staff to help run the program.
Sanctuary Supply Depot is entirely volunteer run and gives out clothing, tents, sleeping bags, & other supplies at GMCC
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Volunteers through Access Healing Center
GMCC has a long-standing partnership with Access Healing Center, a culturally-specific treatment center for the Somali/East African community. We have always relied heavily on Access volunteers to run our Drop-in Services on Fridays and feel incredibly grateful for the partnership. Although we see many of the guys come and go as they enter and leave treatment and move on to get housing, jobs, or education, several of them have continued volunteering with us even after graduating.
Access volunteers at last year’s Community Picnic
It means a lot for us to have graduates go out of their way to come back as volunteers, even if they are busy with new jobs or school. They enjoy coming to GMCC as a space to build community, use their lived experience to help others, and do something meaningful with their free time. It has been great to watch these individuals grow and find more stability in their lives as they graduate from treatment. Several Drop-in Services participants were attending Pathways to Recovery, another local Somali-specific treatment center. A handful of these participants transferred to Access and began volunteering at GMCC. They have expressed enjoying giving back to the community and to the organization that helped them when they needed it.
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Thank you SO MUCH to our volunteers – we truly could not do this work without you! If you are interested in volunteering, head to gmcc.org/volunteer and fill out the form.
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