As we approach the end of 2024, we’re looking back at an incredibly full year for the Supply Depot.  We continue to be a mutual aid collective run entirely by volunteers and funded by the generosity of our neighbors.  

Thanks to you, we’ve been able to grow this year, working to meet the unprecedented level of need in our community.  

We are in our final fundraising push of 2024 - attempting to raise funds for 150 “basic setups” of a tent, winter sleeping bag, and tarp to prepare for January distro.  To give, please visit any of our giving links at SupplyDepotMpls.com

We continue to grow our partnership with GMCC.  Almost exactly a year ago we moved into our space in GMCC, and started partnering with the staff there on Friday Drop-In Hours.  

Early in 2024, GMCC stepped up when we were in need of a fiscal sponsor, after our previous sponsoring organization closed.  GMCC’s fiscal sponsorship allows donors to make tax deductible contributions, as well as participate in matching gifts opportunities that may be available through their workplaces.  To take advantage of tax deductible contributions, please visit our Open Collective site, or contact us at [email protected] if you have questions.  

GMCC’s Friday drop in services have grown through additional partnerships with organizations including Southside Harm Reduction Services and Healthcare for the Homeless. Friday drop-in hours continue to be a place where all who enter are treated with dignity and humanity. We often hear from the neighbors who come through the door “this is the only place where everyone greets me by my name.”

Each Friday, over 100 neighbors come to GMCC’s Drop In services, and are now able to access as needed:

-showers

-hot meals and food to go

-survival supplies via the Supply Depot

-harm reduction via Southside Harm Reduction

-wound care and other medical care via Healthcare for the Homeless

-clean outerwear and clothes through the Supply Depot’s Clothes Closet

Increasingly, the neighbors visiting on Friday include large numbers of refugees who have newly arrived in the United States.  Our services have adapted to help welcome these new immigrant families to our community.  

Thanks to our space at GMCC and our donors, this year we have realized our long-time hope of being able to buy survival supplies in bulk, which has significantly brought down the cost of each “setup” of a tent, sleeping bag, and tarp.  In turn, this both allows us to distribute more supplies (approximately 150 tents/sleeping bags/and tarps per month), and also provides additional supplies such as new underwear and socks, hygiene kits, flashlights, and wound care.  

Weekly volunteer shifts allow us to prep for distribution - including unpacking bulk supplies, making hygiene kits, and packing individual orders for pickup and delivery.  

In addition to the survival supply sets distributed on Fridays, unhoused neighbors can also request supplies directly via our text line, or via our distribution partners who distribute an additional 10-15 sets of gear per week across Minneapolis and St Paul.  

Our popup crew sets up weekly at a South Minneapolis encampment with coffee, sandwiches, snacks, and other supplies.  We are often able to pop up together with our comrades at Streetworks Outreach Collaborative.  These weekly popups allow us to connect with residents who aren’t able to come in on Fridays, and check in about the current needs of unhoused neighbors, so we can adjust our supply orders based on their feedback.  

This year we were able to focus more energy on collaboration and partnership with other outreach organizations, including mutual aid partners.  This coordination helps more equitably distribute food, harm reduction, and other supplies across the encampments, and keep our neighbors safe.  Through our participation in the BUILD Collaborative, we now have access to better data on the prevalence and timing of evictions.  

We are enormously grateful that our neighbors continue to step up and work together toward building and growing our community.  We look forward to continuing to work with you and all our comrades in 2025.