Packs for Portland: Supporting Our Community by Supporting Our Neighbors
By Teresa Howard in collaboration with Braeden Alward, Emma Madigan, Mary Sweeney, Minh Bao Luong, and Zoe Paige
There is an old expression about being lost at sea: "Water everywhere but not a drop to drink." It evokes a sense of need that many of us hope to never experience. Unfortunately, there are those of us who are experiencing something similar right in our own communities. As volunteers at the Portland Needle Exchange, a non-profit organization that provides harm reduction services to those living in the City of Portland, Maine, we have learned about the implications of living on the street from those with lived experience. Since last year, there has been an exponential increase in the unhoused population along with an increasing need for housing and accessibility to healthcare services. In light of this and with the onset of winter, we wanted to provide essential cold weather survival items including warm clothing, wound care kits, foot powder, toothbrushes, and cold weather informational fliers. We packaged these supplies in a way that would have a lasting impact on people who are regularly displaced from where they call home: backpacks.
In collaboration with the UNE’s School of Pharmacy and College of Dental Medicine, UNECOM students fundraised and advocated for our unhoused neighbors through a university-wide backpack and warm clothing drive, which included support and donations from local businesses and community members. Creating these backpacks allowed us to provide care to the people in our community who arguably need it the most and yet also experience the greatest barriers to access. We met our goal of 100 backpacks and distributed them with the Portland Needle exchange and Maine Mobile Outreach to the largest encampment in Portland, in addition to community partners in Saco and Biddeford.
As we reflect upon our efforts, we can’t help but feel a deep sense of connection. Each backpack symbolized more than just material support. It embodied the unity of a community coming together to address shared challenges. The collaboration between academic institutions, local businesses, and community members demonstrated the extraordinary impact of collective compassion. But our mission does not end with the distribution of the backpacks; we hope that it extends beyond the streets of Portland and resonates as a call to action for societies at large. The backpacks may carry essential supplies, but they also carry a message - “You are not alone, and your community cares about you.” Through this project, we have learned that sometimes, the most impactful navigation is not across vast oceans but through the depths of our shared humanity. Let us continue to come together and support one another, one backpack at a time, until every individual in need finds their way home, not just to a shelter but to a supportive and understanding community that values and uplifts them.