Homelessness can tear everything away from you: your friends, your sense of purpose, and even your sense of dignity. For many unhoused individuals, this is sadly a reality. But since 2005, Downtown Street Teams have been rewriting that story. From its roots in Palo Alto, all the way to Sacramento, DST provides more than just assistance with escaping homelessness- they offer a sense of purpose. Through innovative programs recognised by Harvard’s top 50 innovations in American government, the DST blends volunteer work with real training by hosting daily street beautification missions and has lifted almost 2,000 people of homelessness into stable jobs.
The heart of DST is its flagship Streets Team volunteer program, which creates opportunities for unhoused and impacted individuals to take part in beautifying their communities through tasks like cleaning streets and parks. As team members individuals can practice key employment skills such as cooperation, punctuality, and personal responsibility. In return, DST provides case management and helps remove barriers for “team members” such as driver’s licenses or health care. Anthro spoke with two members of DST, about their experiences with DST.
How did you get involved with DST?
“My brother got me involved. My brother was here before I was and he was also trying to get off the streets,” Athena said.”At the time, I had just gotten a whole house and everything I had stolen from me, so I was extremely depressed and I wanted to find something that would get me back involved with the community.”
How has the DST helped you face the challenges of your circumstances?
“It just gave me something to focus my effort on. They’re helping me with housing too, because I was in a place where there was a lot of drug use. I didn’t want to be around it. It’s like my worst pet peeve,” Athena said.
When did you join DST?
“I’ve been here for 3 years. I moved up pretty quickly because they needed help with team leadership,” Athena said.
“A few years ago. At the time, I needed some type of therapy because I had just got out of the hospital, Stanford Hospital, and they weren’t giving therapy. So I just joined Downtown Streets Teams and I got a picker. And God blessed me. So when I started doing this therapy for myself and started healing myself, I was successful at it,” Wanye said.
What would you say to people who think less of homeless people?
“You don’t know, anybody could be a check away from being homeless,” Wayne said
How can students and parents help unhoused individuals?
“Volunteer and contribute to the food closet in sustaining food security, raise awareness in your community regarding issues our unhoused community,” Dale Calhoun, program director for Palo Alto DST said to Anthro.