Bring Home to the Homeless

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A home is not just 4 walls and a roof. It's the place that provides security, happiness, acceptance, contentment, forgiveness..

If we are ever to meaningfully realize a society without homelessness, then homecoming must come to the streets of our cities.

We are all volunteer and 501(c)(3). E.I.N. 87-1068366 We have developed relationships with many people over the 3.5 years we've been doing our street outreach. It truly feels like a family picnic and everyone says so! We have many families and children who come and it is very safe. Everyone calls me Mom and they are starting to care about themselves because of seeing others care about THEM. It is a beautiful thing to see. We love them unconditionally and in all of their glory mess too!

We feel that any discussion about homelessness MUST begin on the streets. It is there that we meet the deposed and dismissed, the banished and the ostracized, the outcasts. It is there that we see their faces and learn their names and hear their stories.

Billy's Way Home is a street outreach ministry which began in April 2021, after our beloved family member, Billy, passed away. Billy struggled with addiction and homelessness for many years. We are a small, mostily self-funded organization and have terrific partners (Tyson Foods, Midwest Food Bank, CVS, Bomba's, City of Phoenix Heat Relief Grant, and more), and the best volunteers! A homeless man said, "Homelessness is the most lonely experience of my life..." He believes the loneliness is "the core driving experience behind so much of the addiction cycle, revenge psychology and issues with authority" that does occur among some in the homeless community. We believe that too...The synonyms of homelessness should be Ioneliness, isolation, lack of social support... 

Once homeless, it is difficult or even impossible to get reconnected with a social network. And, once a person loses that...they've lost the last thread to the fabric of society. The sense of belonging to a community is gone. Relationships are gone and feelings of disconnection and isolation take over. Stigma follows them, which leads to total social isolation. Those who are homeless constantly experience dehumanizing and unfair treatment. We hear the awful stories. They are often feared, mistrusted and shunned by "society" for being homeless and for having a substance use disorder or a mental health challenge. 

Recovery is DEPENDENT on strong support systems. We give everyone a strong, healthy, social connection each week. Probably the only one they have all week. They tell us that they look forward to Saturday's. Our beautiful friends/volunteers that come out are their support, their community that they have lost. Good conversations that had becomes rare or (worse yet, adversarial, even abusive), return. Eye contact, with which human beings acknowledge their mutual humanity, returns. Human touch is but a memory to many. We hug. We sit beside them. We give handshakes, fist bumps and high fives! Bit by bit, connections with the social fabric are coming back together...

We would love for you to join us and connect with our community!