Street Leaves is a proactive outreach team dedicated to enhancing the health and welfare of those residing on the streets of the Sellwood region in Portland, Oregon. Our team is actively present each day, delivering essential supplies and offering overdose prevention support. Additionally, we facilitate connections to vital services, ensuring individuals have access to necessities for maintaining their well-being. This includes assistance with obtaining identification cards, navigating shelter resource, signing up for OHP/SNAP benefits, connecting with programs that offer assessments for behavioral health and substance use programs.
Proactive outreach is actively reaching out to folks, addressing their needs, before it hits a crisis stage. We work towards getting folks signed up for medical care, obtaining documentation, addressing barriers and providing in the moment needs such as clothing and safety gear.
Crisis mitigation is where we establish a plan that is tailored to the individual. By actively listening to the persons needs and examining the situation, we collaborate with the client to formulate a plan based on their needs before it becomes a life threatening situation.
Trust is not given, it is earned. By doing outreach for years in an area, respecting people’s autonomy and bringing trauma informed care, we are able to build off the trust we have established. By trusting the client to know their own bodies and their own needs, we are able to provide customized care that will last rather than a bandaid over a bullet wound.