[Submitted by Glenn Alford]
This is the 19th year Aid For Friends has sponsored its annual Homeless Awareness Encampment, continuing a long-standing community tradition to raise awareness of the ever-growing homelessness problem in our community.
The 2025 Encampment will be Dec. 6-7 in Caldwell Park. The Encampment was originally developed under the leadership of former Executive Director B.J. Stensland, whose dedication to serving the most vulnerable shaped the agency's mission for 25 years. Each year, this event will continue to honor her legacy — acknowledging her commitment to bringing awareness to our community.
Volunteers will sleep in cardboard boxes in possible frigid temperatures, eat a “soup kitchen” dinner and keep warm around a burn barrel to remind us all of the plight of the homeless as well as raise funds for AFF services.
“This event helps raise funds for our new shelter which opened in 2021,” says current AFF Executive Director Michele Poletti. “Its services include shelter clients with case management, outreach services, housing navigation, and a safe and secure place to stay. But, most importantly, the awareness this event provides bridges the emotional and educational gap between those who have stable housing in our community and those who are surviving without it.”
Aid For Friends has set the ambitious goal of raising $19,000 to partially fund its humanitarian services and themed the encampment “19,000 Dollars for 19 Years.” All proceeds go directly to Aid For Friends Emergency Shelter and are spent locally.
This will be the agency’s 42nd year of service to Southeastern Idaho. Originally a homeless shelter that provided lodging and some meals, AFF has evolved into a multi-faceted resource center. The agency was born during the savage Pocatello winter of 1983-84 when one young man froze to death while trying to find shelter in a dumpster and another had a foot amputated because no shelter operated here.
The Encampment raises money for AFF through tax-deductible pledges solicited by volunteers. Those wishing to support the project but unable to spend the night might consider sponsoring a participant with a donation equal to the cost of a one-night stay in a motel with two meals. Donations of any size are welcome and can be mailed to AFF at P.O. Box 4233, Pocatello, ID 83205, or made by supporting a participant.
The Encampment actually begins with registration at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. At noon there will be training at the Central Christian Church with lunch provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All volunteers will be instructed in winter survival training including personal health, frostbite, hypothermia and emergency preparedness by Lance Clark, long-time City of Pocatello outdoor recreation employee, and Southeastern Idaho Public Health.
Construction of the base camp will be from cardboard boxes loaned by Pacific Recycling. Volunteers move into camp and fashion shelters from boxes and tarps. The resulting camp is much like make-shift shelters found in cities with no AFF-type agency to provide a safe haven for the homeless. Heat will be limited to a zero environmental impact fire in a 55-gallon drum, with donated firewood.
BSA Troop 395 will prepare and serve a “soup kitchen” dinner Saturday night from donated ingredients. The Aid For Friends concessions trailer will be staffed by community volunteers and will provide coffee, hot chocolate and snacks. Sunday morning, a hot breakfast will be provided by El Herradero Restaurant.
Local musician Shawn Barnby will provide a musical interlude for the volunteers 6:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Central Christian Church. The American Legion Riders will provide Saturday night camp security.
Aid For Friends is asking its annual Encampment food drive donors to emphasize canned meat/protein/vegetables. Chili, stew, tuna, ham, soup and other protein will be collected at Caldwell Park by Modern Woodmen of America for the shelter’s pantry.
Anyone wishing to visit the encampment is welcome to stop by for a hot beverage and snacks/treats. Those with medical conditions such as diabetes, heart condition or decreased sensation in their extremities are cautioned not to stay all night.
The volunteers will face the same winter weather conditions as the homeless, but on Sunday morning they will go home to a warm house, a hot shower and their families. The homeless will have a bed, meals and essential services at the AFF homeless shelter, which has been operating at near capacity for the past year.
For more information or to make a donation, call Aid For Friends at 208-232-0178.
