Local nonprofit Maslow’s Army announced via Facebook that they were able to add a second emergency mobile unit to their pick-up service. The addition comes just in time — cold, wet weather is projected throughout Monday evening, with the National Weather Service predicting a snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches overnight.
Maslow’s Army aims to help Cincinnatians experiencing homelessness. One piece of that goal is realized through getting people off the streets in dangerously cold weather. Sam Landis — who co-founded Maslow’s Army with his wife, Susan — says that the organization will have their buses out every night the temperature drops below 32 degrees. Tonight, temperatures are predicted to drop to 20 degrees with snow and rain continuing until around 2 a.m. and a slight chance after 5 a.m. At the time of this interview, Sam says that they have already gotten dozens of calls today regarding meeting times and pick-up locations from the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area.
Their first bus has been in operation since March of this year. Their second bus, which Sam says was personally paid for by Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune, is part of a larger goal to have a “fleet” of vehicles picking up vulnerable individuals from the streets during inclement weather.
“This is just the first step,” Sam says. “We would like to get an overall bus but that would require a (commercial driver’s license).”
The first pick-up location is at downtown’s Main Library at 6 p.m. with other spots scattered throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. After being picked up, individuals are transferred to local partner churches, synagogues and mosques with the goal of providing weeklong shelter. While churches vary depending on dates, Sam cites Mount Airy’s Truth & Destiny Church as their main partner and initial stop. (The location is able to take in 36 people.)
“What we do is staff the places we take them to with two of our Maslow’s Army staff members,” Sam says. “We help with breakfast and dinner as well as providing the transportation, picking up individuals starting at the library and then going into homeless camps, bus stops — other places that our most vulnerable citizens could be.”
Volunteers with Maslow were also working to rescue people from sleeping outside on Thursday (Nov. 7) evening, a night that saw subfreezing temperatures. Of that night, Sam told WLWT that “62 people would have not had a place to go…they would have been on the street.”
WLWT reports that two churches, including the First Unitarian Church, opened their doors for overnight shelter. Cold temperatures will continue throughout the week, with a high of 28 degrees on Tuesday with a chance of more snow.
According to Sam, the service this season first started Oct. 31; he estimates they picked up 25 people that night.
“It just started doubling. We’re seeing numbers around 70 and there’s no doubt that numbers tonight are going to reach the triple digits in our transferring from (place-to-place),” Sam says. “We’re just grateful and humbled to be a service to those of us who are out there. All of us have spent time on the streets and in addiction recovery.”
In a separate email, he recalls the death of Ken Martin, who he calls a “dear friend to Maslow Army,” on Dec. 26, 2017. Martin froze to death at a city bus stop, and Sam says after Martin’s death, community and city leaders vowed to do better. He also points to the death of Danny Lee Miles, who died in a doorway on Feb. 19 of this year.
“Maslow’s Army’s mission has always been meeting the basic human needs by providing a hand up, not just a handout,” Sam says in the email. “Homelessness is a situation, not an identity. We are all volunteers doing our reasonable service for mankind.”
For more info on Maslow’s Army, visit maslowsarmy.org.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 12, 2019.
