With help from community partners:
Who is Project Dignity?
Project Dignity
Thank you to Community
Partners for making these
efforts possible
Project Dignity began February 14, 2022 as a way to build a sense of community between housed and unhoused
community members by sharing food, resources, and
community conversations.
The first “Mondays Matter” served cookies,
hot chocolate & coffee to a small handful of
unhoused neighbors at McArthur Park,
located in Central Long Beach, California
FEBRUARY 14TH 2022 - BEGINNINGS
Mondays Matter
Dignity &
Listening
Navigation
to Resources
Mutual Aid &
Supply Sourcing
No expectations - No judgement
What's Needed
Community
Volunteers
Funding &
Donations
Service
Providers
Schedule October 2022 - March 2023 will host weekly
conversations with Beacon for Him and food/water
donations from community partners.
Gathering data and sourcing supplies, the Supply and
Navigation Table is run by PECC, AOC7, & EastStake LDS
with supplies also sourced by Care Closet. The table will set up on the same days as the WeHope shower/laundry
truck, which is scheduled for most 1st & 3rd Mondays,
unless there is a holiday, then rescheduled for the
following Monday.
With services twice a month, we can source and
implement other engagements & services like DMV IDs,
haircuts, veterinary services, and train more volunteers who can just listen.
Leading with safety, we will be implementing volunteer
workshops to educate and better prepare volunteers for
the work at hand such as Mental Health First Aid through Long Beach NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness).
What's Next
What We Learned
Community Collaborations: Project Dignity efforts created collaborations between neighborhood associations, community organizations, and faith-based groups with city and county support with the goal of bringing dignity to neighbors who are experiencing homelessness.
Navigating to Services & Resources: While we are aware that these efforts are "band- aids" where a tourniquet is needed, these efforts have found that making connections within the community has better outcomes of shelter and paths to care and recovery.
Sourcing Mutual Aid, Practicing Harm Reduction, & Listening: Over the past 7 months, these efforts have become a reliant source of mutual aid, connections to city-led resources, system navigation, and neighbor-to-neighbor connections with community volunteers who also simply listen.
Schedule & Data
The efforts has grown. We are now serving an average of 80 community members at the Supplies and Navigation
table, upwards from the 30-40 people who were served
in February. The largest number gathered on Monday was
113 (8/22/22).
Gathering data without being intrusive has been helpful in viewing the breadth of people served and
understanding their needs.
WeHOPE showers/laundry truck was added on June 20th
and ran weekly until September 19th except for the 3
Mondays which were holidays.
The truck averages 20 showers and 11 loads of laundry
per week. On holidays, food and water were dispersed.
Is there an end?
Yes
Project Dignity is an effort to meet people where they are without judgement or expectations while government institutions re-vision and develop more efficient and humane infrastructure for people experiencing homelessness. Whether its paths to individual-focused recovery options, transition housing to include and focus on trauma healing, developing assisted care for those who need some daily interventions, and communities for people without capacity to provide self-care, independently in society without self harm.
Project Dignity is formatted as a temporary community program to mitigate the issues of unhoused living with basic needs while providing community connections and resource navigation by partnering with service providers. Meeting people where they are results in better housed outcomes.