Street Outreach Definition & Importance of Meeting Them Where They Are

Street Outreach & The Importance of:

Meeting Them Where They Are

Part 1 of a 3-part series  By: N. Lunsford  07/2026

 One of the core principles of Homeless Street Outreach is to meet people where THEY are. This not only means their physical or geographical location, but where they are emotionally and psychologically as well.

We offer faith-based support – but never faith “forced” support. The program participants know we live through biblical guidance and teaching and will share that when asked.

Too often, helpers perceive that the unhoused person “should be [insert view or idea here]” or, “they need to do [insert view or idea here]” but what seems to be the obvious next step, or course of action, if often the wrong next step or course of action.

The person living outside is not in the same emotional place as a housed person, or a person who has never experienced the trauma and stigma of being unhoused, and the approach to tell them what they need to do is meeting them where YOU are, not where they are.

Because, frankly, they are not “there” yet.

Street outreach by definition is pretty simple: 

• Street: the streets, woods, encampments, vehicles used for shelter, abandon homes or buildings, laundromats, emergency rooms, jails, train stations, or any of the many other places that the unhoused find some form of shelter.
• Outreach: Means physically reaching out to the person to not only to learn each unique and personal story through engagement, but to earn trust over time while at the same time, meet their immediate needs of food, clothing, transportation, medical or metal health care.
•  Asking, not telling, what services they seek, and then connecting them to the best resources of assistance, completed with a “warm hand off” to partnering service providers for housing, health care, legal assistance, and other avenues of help.  It does not mean waiting for them to arrive at our office or another brick-and-mortar location. It means what is says “Out- Reach”.
• Homeless street outreach initial meetings are often unplanned and sporadic, we seldom use the word “client” but rather program participant, or friend, to lessen the possible feeling of a power position of the helper and remind the person that participation in our street outreach is voluntary and their choice. Putting the program participants in control of outreach services.
• We take the time to hear their story, do an informal, initial assessment of immediate basic needs, and provide the items needed to survive until a deeper assessment and potential services and referrals to shelter and applicable and sustainable help can be made. This may happen in one or two meetings, or it can take months to years.
• When offering immediate needs services that are only attainable if the program participant person must go to an office location, they usually must walk, or find transportation, to reach the location where the immediately needed services are to be provided. This can cause additional burdens and struggle for the unhoused person, defeating the purpose of the help or services, some service providers will provide an Uber ride to an intake meeting.
•   This method may also create additional worries, concerns and problems to navigate as they must not only have to determine how to physically get to the location, but they then must also carry or somehow transport any supplies provided back to their camp, (we, and they, avoid the term “tent city” because it brings a sense permanency, and further stigmatizes their living situation) or other outside shelter, most often, on foot.
• Once at a scheduled appointment, after navigating the few obstacles already explained here, the program participant often will have to:
  • Navigate language or paperwork terms and processes that may be overwhelming.
  • They will also need to collect documents they do not have immediate access to.
  • Street outreach workers assist with these issues and walk them through applications and paperwork.

• Steven’s Home offers free notary services for program participants to obtain documents when they do not have an ID, which is required to obtain notary service elsewhere. (By law, since street outreach work makes the person personally known to us, we can provide this service.)

We recognize the human being in the people we meet, and who live in uninhabitable dwellings, like tents, or other outdoor shelters. We see past what is in front of us in forms of addiction, mental health struggles and lack of personal hygiene availability. We see a person. We see what barriers to help and hopelessness can resort to.

We meet people who have experienced “one life event” (loss of a spouse from death or divorce, job loss, medical or mental health diagnoses) that caused the loss of their traditional home, and they cannot believe how they “got here”.

We meet people living outside who have long histories of jobs and careers, who have served our country, who have remarkably high IQs, who are always concerned about other people in need, or are optimistic and dream of having a traditional home again. We meet people who have great senses of humor, and those who just enjoy a good talk with a trusted friend.

 One of the blessings of street outreach is that when we go to meet our unhoused friends, we consistently encounter strength, resilience, kindness, worth and dignity in the people we meet.  We frequently have these friends, living outside, express concern for us, wishing us well and telling us, “Be safe out there,” as we see them again. ALL give us a warm, tight hug. We hear “I love you” and “thank you” often.

We respect these friends as human beings.

Mutual respect and recognition of our humanness is the basis of a relationship that can become a path out of their homeless situation. 

This is fundamental to who WE are and WHAT WE DO at Steven’s Home.

While we receive referrals from court systems, hospital social workers, service providers and the community, word of mouth is also a common method in which new folks reach us. Those we consistently serve, share our contact information within the unhoused communities and refer others to us. Sometimes, a new person has been told by an existing client that we will be at their location, and they are waiting to introduce themself when we arrive. 

Some people may not want to be immediately sheltered, and that is ok. We want them to feel in control of their life and choices. However we find them, that is how and where they are at that moment. 

Situations change, and our job is to provide them with a sense of trust, security, know that we will advocate for them, and personal safety regarding privacy and confidential information sharing, then help guide them to the assistance THEY WANT at THAT time. 

In street outreach work, we recognize the trauma of homelessness and the VALUE, WORTH & DIGNITY each human being has. We treat their choices with dignity, and never our agenda. We inform them of the areas of help and services we can provide and let them decide. 

We meet them where they are.

Thank you for taking the time to read and learn more about homelessness in our community.

You can view the many pages of more information on our website, or provide support since we are NOT grant funded, any amount of support helps!

Stevens-Home.org

See Part 2 of the series “Barriers and Challenges”