This week has seen a dangerous heat wave spreading across the nation with heat advisories and warnings being issued and record high temperatures being recorded. Hot weather is a dangerous time for hyper-vulnerable neighbors in our communities. How is your faith community engaged in seeing and meeting these life-threatening risks?

This Table Topics guide will give you five areas to explore as possible outreach opportunities for faith communities to get involved in meeting the needs of their neighbors in the midst of dangerously high temperatures.

Opportunity 1: WATER.

Dehydration can happen in as little as 30 minutes during high heat exposure. (1) It is critical that those without stable shelter who are forced to endure outdoor exposure for hours at a time must have access to life-saving water throughout the day to combat dehydration.

Faith communities can help make sure that vulnerable neighbors have regular access to clean drinking water in many ways:

Install a water refill station on your property and invite those walking by to use it to fill up plastic water bottles or to get a quick drink from paper cups that can be installed on the side of the unit. We have plans and instructions for how to build and maintain a water station (like the one below) on your property in our member resource library.
Drive around in the heat of the afternoon and distribute water bottles, Gatorade, and popsicles with electrolytes to help unsheltered neighbors stay hydrated.
Make access to an outdoor water spigot available for neighbors to get a drink, fill up a water bottle, or rinse off quickly to cool down.

Opportunity 2: Serve as a Daytime Cooling Shelter

Many communities lack life-saving locations where unsheltered neighbors can go in the extreme heat of the day to get out of the sun and cool off.

Consider opening the doors of your building during the warmest hours of the day (often Noon to 3 PM) to give neighbors in need a safe place to gather to cool off. You can provide coloring sheets, board games, books, or show movies as a simple place for people to experience hospitality without strings.

Please note that this is not a time to preach to people, offer Bible study, or try to convert them to your faith beliefs. Doing so would be placing faith conditions and participation in religious activities as conditions for survival- which can cause religious trauma and feel manipulative and insincere to those you are trying to support. Just simply open doors, connect with those in need, exhibit concern, and care for their well-being.

Opportunity 3: Collect and Distribute Shoes and Socks

One aspect of living outdoors during the high heat that many people do not consider is the impact that hot pavements can have on people who are often primarily using walking as their primary source of transportation. The graphic below (2) illustrates how much hotter concrete and asphalt are when the air temperatures climb to dangerous highs as a pet warning… but it is also dangerous for people walking a great deal.

Prolonged walking on these hot surfaces can lead to burns on the feet (especially in shoes with worn or thin soles) or worse NO SHOES AT ALL- which happens far too often for our unsheltered neighbors.

Having solid shoes and socks that provide added protection from the pavement's heat can be a huge blessing during the summer. Your faith community could collect socks and shoes to distribute to those without stable shelter in your community as a way to meet a practical need in the summer months.

Opportunity 4: Summer Outreach

In our Member Resource Library, we have a detailed guide on how to start a street outreach program through your church. We offer guidance on summer and winter outreaches with guidance on organizing, recruiting and training volunteers, communication, data, safety concerns, suggested supplies to distribute, and much more!

Some of the items that we suggest you consider giving out (in addition to water, which is essential) on summer outreach include sunscreen, bug spray, small first aid kits, refillable water bottles, instant ice packs, cooling towels that can be dipped in water, baby wipes for hygiene, small battery-operated fans, and baseball hats.

Please consider refraining from inserting tracks, Bibles, or service invitations into your summer outreach supplies. Instead, focus on meeting needs and building relationships with those you are helping. Be sincere in your concern for people’s quality of life and do not turn a moment of love into an opportunity for proselytizing. These approaches can often turn people off from religion and become sources of religious trauma for those in need of support.

Opportunity 5: Showers

Does your building have a shower? If so, consider opening it up in the summer hours for neighbors who do not have consistent access to running water and indoor plumbing to come and be able to clean themselves off with dignity. Limited or lack of access to showers in the summertime is a serious health concern for many. Sweat and dirt can turn common summer annoyances like bug bites into serious skin infections quickly.

If your faith community does not have a shower, consider exploring the cost to borrow, rent, or purchase a shower truck that could be set up on your property during the summer months to offer this basic human essential service to those in need in your community.