Program Description:

POP-UP OUTREACH EVENTS:

Make-a-day pop-up events provide opportunities for guests to build personal relationships with typical community members. By connecting guests to our volunteers, providing made-to-order meals from gourmet food trucks, offering professional haircuts, shampoos, styling and shaves, Make- A-Day creates an equalizing space for marginalized people to connect to caring members of their community and build trust to facilitate the exploration of opportunities.
To assist homeless guests with ongoing challenges, the Make-A-Day Foundation has established partnerships with local health, behavioral health, criminal justice, housing, community and social service agencies. These partnerships provide access to “on-the-spot” presumptive Medicaid health insurance coverage, on-sight dental services, and medical, behavioral health, dental, vision, housing & benefit referrals and smart justice opportunities.
Make-A-Day outreach uses a relationship-centered approach and exposes guests to opportunities in a way that encourages them to avail themselves of resources that they may not otherwise consider through more traditional outreach models.
Our experience on the street in Columbus has generated a simple formula for outreach success. By linking forgotten members of our society to their neighbors and showing them appreciation – just for being who they are in that moment – human connections form. These connections become powerful vehicles to explore opportunities that will change their lives forever.

MOBILE OUTREACH PROGRAM:
Make-A-Day’s innovative “Community Appreciation and Opportunity Team (CAOT)” mobile outreach program meets people where they are – this includes where people sleep and where they are in life’s journey. In contrast to the traditional, “brick-and-mortar, come to us” approach, Make- A-Day’s CAOT program reaches those who are the most vulnerable and least able to proactively access existing community resources.
Make-A-Day Foundation’s person-centered philosophy and mobile approach helps engage people who are often disconnected from our community and its resources. Our philosophy is rooted in the tenants of humanistic psychology and emphasizes the power of personal relationships as vehicles for human growth and empowerment.
Make-A-Day Foundation’s outreach strategy is based on two main elements: acts of appreciation that affirm the unique value of each person, followed by the presentation of opportunities to enhance people’s lives.
Our mobile kitchen starts things off with an act of appreciation by offering a chef crafted, made-to-order meal. Our mobile salon then offers guests a professional haircut, shampoo, styling and conversation. By setting the tone with acts of appreciation, we change the dynamic with guests who are frequently treated as invisible and without value.
Make-A-Day Foundation’s mobile program also provides a holistic set of opportunities. Our embedded, masters- level social worker and trained volunteers partner with peer supporters and other agency outreach programs to complete referrals and provide follow ups for physical, dental & mental health, substance use, housing, employment, social service and criminal justice opportunities. Our trauma-informed team leverages their human services expertise and relationships with guests to create meaningful connections to their community and its resources.