b'We want to let them know were there to help them and show them Jesuss love without beating them over the head with the Gospel. At the intersection of Ive had enough, were present. Theyve seen us enough that theyre willing to call us. Nathan Smithto significantly reduce food insecu- The idea is around accessibility,park the bus at known homeless rity, we need to invest more inNathan said. We want to take foodareas or convenience stores with mobile outreach.to the neighborhoods. We also dis- which the mission has contracted. The mission staff started a mobiletribute household items, hygieneThe bus, equipped with mobile food distribution outreach in 2018items; things that folks who are foodhotspots, computers, and scanners, using a refrigerated truck they wereinsecure also tend to need.acts as a mobile office focused on awarded. They established partner- The mission also has a morehelping people get off the streets.ships with local churches, schools,robust mobile outreach programThe primary tool the outreach and businesses so they could parkfocused on helping individuals getteam is armed with is a credit card the truck at those properties. into shelters. Staff and volunteersthat can systematically address all the barriers people might raise to getting off the streets, according to Nathan. Mission staff can use the card to locate birth certificates, access IDs, and so forth. We navigate folks to detox and put them into shelters or any kind of residential assistance. Nathan said repeated engage-ment with people is key. We want to let them know were there to help them and show them Jesuss love without beating them 34 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG JULY/AUGUST 2023'