SERVICES
NOMAD SUPPLY DRIVES& ABATEMENT SUPPORT
47 massive drives and counting since 12/12
12/12 Origins
how it began
A 24-hour call to action resulted in one truckload of donations to Camp Last Hope, the most help a resident nomad said she had ever seen gifted to her community. Since we have gifted thousands of pounds of clothing, blankets, tents, sleeping bags, shoes, hygiene supplies and so much more to thousands of our friends on the street. Each drive offers a hot meal, hydration, hygiene, needle exchange, wound care, a live DJ (with dancing and creative self expression by allowing nomads to DJ, freestyle rap and sing karaoke) and so much more.
Showers, Haircuts & Special Drive Events
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With 22 Sunday supply drives and counting with upwards of 17 cards and supply stations, we have also began providing showers, haircuts, a hand-washing station, and things like washing hair and gifting our moms on the streets carnations and chocolate to boost morale and provide love, care and improve hygiene and health on Mother's Day.
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In the summer months we boost our hydration efforts, and provide popsicles, ice and hand towels dunked in ice water to keep our friends on the streets cool during supply drives and abatements.
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During one drive on 1/31 we provided enough sandwiches and soup, thanks to donations from Great Harvest, the Iglesia de Cristo En Utah Ministerios Llamada Final and private donors, armed with eight volunteer teams serving eight nomad settlements and feeding an estimated 300 unsheltered living on the streets!
Abatement Support
We have moved hundreds of people in advance of and during city abatements, sending our team with trucks and trailers and hydration to save nomad belongings and provide transportation of belongings from camp to new camp.
Overnight Movie Nights
December 15, 16, 17, 18
for our unsheltered friends at
First United Methodist Church
203 S. 200 E.
No weapons, please keep any drug use off the property, no congregating or camping outside. This Is a favor from the church so please respect their space!
See our Facebook page
EMPLOYMENT & WORKSHOPS
Employment
& Entrepreneurship
We have placed a young man raised in the foster care system who dropped out from school at 17 in quality paying employment. We have placed a young woman at Zest Kitchen and Bar and she is still gainfully employed two months later and loving it. We have also promoted entrepreneurship with our Nomadic Mechanic service (temporarily on pause until our mechanic returns from out of state), have employed five nomads for temporary landscaping and security work and are continuing to employ more nomads each and every week.
Weekly Empowerment Workshops
We hold weekly empowerment workshops in self defense, meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and facilitate inquiry and trauma release via the Work by Byron Katie, art therapy, and visits by indigenous healers and traditional ceremonies. Each workshop feeds the 5-10 nomads in attendance two meals, and also often provides haircuts, haircolor, and so much more.
If you'd like to offer a healing service or speak about your recovery successes any Wednesday from 11-4 please contact us! Each workshop also bolsters recovery by providing detox kits that have helped dozens of nomads get off heroin and meth completely or cut down their use by 50-95%.
We thank David Mario Ramos for closing the doors of State Street Boxing Gym for most of every Wednesday so we can have an intimate environment to bolster empowerment and facilitate healing!
Recovery
Coupled with our workshop program the Nomad Alliance has put together health and wellness kits of vitamins, herbs, snacks, gum, hydration, and other items to help curb withdrawals and facilitate our nomads in their quests to getting clean. One nomad said it was the easiest time she's ever gotten clean, easier than using "Methodone, Suboxone or cold turkey in jail." Another nomad came up to us at a supply drive exclaiming, "Hey! You gave me a detox kit. It worked! I'm off heroin a month now and while I've relapsed off meth twice, it's like the drug no longer has a hold of me!" We are giving our detox kits to our nomads attending our weekly Wednesday workshop, asking them to take a step forward in their quest for sobriety by working on their emotional health while we provide the supplementation to facilitate their bodies natural detox process.
Nomad Alliance team members have also sent one nomad to a year-long rehab program and he is succeeding!
TINY HOMES, ADVOCACY & IDs
Advocacy
It has become clear the homeless crisis is only growing and current solutions are not working. We have advocated our city, county and state government to think of other solutions, presenting a plan for a tiny home community, advocating for restrooms and regular trash pickup, the ending to abatements and identifying bills and advocating for Senator and Representative bill sponsorship for changes to laws which would vastly improve the lives of our friends on the streets. Four Salt Lake City council-members have joined us at supply drives or spoken with leadership at length, we have met with the city Homeless Coordinator, two state Representatives and a State Senator, including inspiring the team and supporters to comment publicly at numerous council meetings.
Tiny Homes
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The Nomad Alliance in conjunction with another nonprofit raised over $5,000 with the support of our friends like you. We have partnered with Matt Lehnardt to provide tiny homes directly to those in need of walls, a door and a roof to replace their flimsy tents at camp settlements. We have gifted one home to a pregnant mother of twins, and are working on creating more.
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In April, the Nomad Alliance purchased a permanent micro home that is parked locally and has thus far housed eight different nomads for lengths of several nights to several months, including veterans, women escaping domestic violence, couples, men whose apartments have burnt down and so much more.
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Nomad Alliance team members have also donated a camper to a family whose camper was damaged by fallen trees.
DMV Appointments
The Nomad Alliance is the first organization in Utah history to make a mass DMV appointment for an unsheltered group. In five appointments providing transportation from the camps to the Weigand for free vouchers, and then directly to the DMV, the Nomad Alliance has helped 33 nomads secure their IDs, and the stimulus checks, employment and peace of mind which come with identification!
Team members also help nomads cash checks from their employers, provide transportation to community centers for showers, to laundromats for laundry services or to receive emergency medical services.