SHARE

See schedule osupportive services:share outreach program:street outreach was established in 1996, the result of a taskforce formed by community leaders to find solutions to the issues of homelessness in downtown vancouver. The program provides street outreach services to hard-to-reach and hard-to-serve homeless individuals each year. Over the years, share has worked to change this program to be less light touch providing basic needs and more focused on connecting people to housing. This has resulted in less people being served and more significant outcomes. The team served 308 people and aided 145 in becoming permanently housed in 2024. The team served 544 people and aided 191 in becoming permanently housed in 2024.talkin' trash, a partnership with city of vancouver:one of the issues believed to be connected to homelessness that many community members express concerns about is trash. Visible trash on the streets, parks, neighborhoods, and near businesses, has a negative effect on the community and impacts health and safety. In 2018, share began a program called talkin' trash that employs people who are or have been experiencing homelessness to pick up refuse within the city of vancouver. The program is focused on providing employment support and placement, aimed at hiring, training, and assisting individuals in their journey toward securing permanent jobs. During the 69-month program, participants earn a fair minimum wage as they engage in litter picking and cleaning up the city of vancouver's public spaces, all while gaining valuable training to enhance their soft, developmental, and professional skills. Every participant is provided with case management to assist them in overcoming the challenges they encounter in their lives while they are engaged in work. The program is funded by the city and the city has sought additional dollars to aid this program in sustaining and growing. In 2024, this program disposed of just over 242 tons of trash, in 2023, those numbers were 226 tons.

Meal & nutrition programs:share provides daily meals for people experiencing homelessness and people struggling with poverty through the hot meal program as well as sack meals. The program served 96,987 and 88,788 meals in 2024 and 2023, respectively. The program continues to be in high demand by the community, serving on average over 8,000 meals a month. Share serves 3 meals a day, monday through friday (in person dining for breakfast and dinner, and a to-go lunch), and 2 meals on the weekend (in-person dining for breakfast and dinner). The program tends to get busier later into the month, as more individuals in the community run out of income or benefits by that time. Much of the food used in the program is donated through food drives or by area grocery stores or purchased through the clark county food bank and is prepared each day by volunteers and staff. Research indicates that a child that is even mildly under-nourished during critical periods of growth impacts their behavior, school performance and overall cognitive development. Share's backpack program provides weekend food packs to children at 93 schools in five school districts every week that school is in session. In 2024 and 2023, share provided approximately 1,069 and 972 food packs per week, respectively. Share's summer lunch program partners with vancouver parks & recreation, vancouver and evergreen school districts, as well as several church groups and low-income apartments to provide meals during a time that children will not receive breakfast or lunch at school. In 2024 and 2023, share provided approximately 12,093 and 10,236 meals to children and their families for this program, respectively.