street outreach services

"Operation Charlie"

Due to the tragic death of a homeless man in early 2000, The Other Place began a program to address gaps in services to the homeless of Dayton and Montgomery County. "Charlie" was a chronic substance abuser and sufferer of severe mental illness who chose to stay on the streets instead of accessing services from the shelter community. His death was the result of his decision to sleep in a dumpster to stay warm. He was crushed by the truck picking up the dumpster early the next morning. 

Because of this tragedy, The Other Place began to reassess the services that were being offered to the true "street homeless" and how those services could be improved upon. The idea was that a large percentage of the homeless were not being served or receiving even the most basic of human needs such as hygiene products, food, clothing, showers, and access to medical and dental services. Perhaps most importantly, educating this population about available services was not happening on a consistent basis.

Today, outreach workers canvass the streets and work closely with area hospitals, churches, feeders, government and businesses to provide a more comprehensive array of services to the homeless population of Dayton and Montgomery County. The goal of the project is to reach all homeless and provide them with basic human needs, while also building trust relationships that will allow us to eventually work with them on all the issues that the many "Charlies" of our community face and struggle with daily. 

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