2020 was a year of incredible need and generosity in Portland. Blanchet House served more than 500,000 meals, which is a 60% increase from the year before. As always, our mission is to alleviate human suffering by providing help and hope to people struggling to survive by connecting them with essential resources. We aim to help our guests on their journey to permanent and supportive housing, sobriety, trauma counseling, and medical or mental health care.
Many of the people we served in 2020 were experiencing homelessness but also poverty, hunger insecurity, and loneliness. Living homeless is a lonely condition that negatively affects the physical and mental health of anyone who experiences it. Our volunteers are often the only friendly face a meal guest might see during their day. We do not collect personal data from our guests but we learn through interaction that they span a wide range of ages and walks of life. Causes of homelessness include domestic violence, drug and substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, loss of jobs, and poverty among others.
Offering a person food, clothing, a shower, or essential care items aids their survival while enduring difficult living conditions. Taking care of someone’s most basic needs helps them to take the next steps on the long journey to permanent housing and life change.
Thank you for supporting our work to ease suffering and set people up for success and healing.
