Fortitude Community Outreach

12/24/2025

Merry Christmas Eve!!! Last night we had our Christmas party with guests in shelter…one of my absolute favorite activities!! Thank you SO SO much to everyone who donated gifts and stocking stuffers, it is appreciated more than you know. (And LOOK at those adorable faces!!) One guest told me I had to make sure I told everyone many thanks. Another said “I wasn't expecting this, I don't know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much."
💗
Thank you also to volunteers who helped make a wonderful Christmas dinner!
**Shared with permission from all

12/20/2025

We have 6 guests still waiting to be adopted for Christmas! 🎄 Everyone’s busy and money is tight, but if you can spare a little, there’s still time to shop before 4pm Tuesday! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

https://m.signupgenius.com/? #!/showSignUp/20F094BA9AA2CA0F49-averyfortitude

12/20/2025

I have added more information about each guest on our Christmas gift sign up! If you haven't already and have a bit more funds and time this Christmas season, please consider "adopting" one of our guests to help us show them some holiday love.

Help us make Christmas special for our guests in emergency lodging! We currently have 17 individuals in our emergency shelter lodging, 5 of whom are children. If you would like to provide gifts for a guest, please sign up and we ask that you follow these guidelines and instructions: Please keep cost...

12/19/2025

❤️❤️❤️

12/18/2025

Got this text from my staff which was cute enough to share as is! ☺️ Thank you Bishop McNamara Catholic School for helping keep our folks warm this winter!

12/18/2025

Yesterday was a banner day for us at Fortitude! 🤗🤗We celebrated this gentleman getting keys to his permanent housing as our newest addition to the Rapid Rehousing program. Later that day we met with another Rapid Rehousing guest who lost his apartment to a fire 2 months ago. He has been staying in hotels and unable to secure a new rental on his own. Our RRH case manager was able to find exactly what he needed through the landlord relationships she has established, went to see it within the hour, and he is moving in Friday! For him, this also means one of his daughters will get to live with him full time and remain in her current school district. 🥰
This is always the end goal for all we do, so we celebrate each time our guests journey with us from Homeless to Housed!!
(Shared with permission)

12/17/2025

Our emergency shelter lodging started with 7 rooms and we recently received additional funding for 3 additional rooms. In total, we have 17 individuals sheltered, with 5 of those being children from newborn to 12 y/o! What a blessing to be able to provide that during the holidays!
We would like to shower them with community love this Christmas, so, like we do every year, we are posting sign ups to provide Christmas gifts for each guest in shelter. I know it's last minute and everyone is busy, but you guys have always come through for them!🥰
Details on each person's wish list are on the sign up. We are still waiting on wish lists from several guests and we will fill those details in when we receive them (due tomorrow). We would need them wrapped and delivered to our office by 4pm on Tuesday...more instructions on that in the sign up.
And THANK YOU for sharing yourselves with our guests this Christmas!

Help us make Christmas special for our guests in emergency lodging! We currently have 17 individuals in our emergency shelter lodging, 5 of whom are children. If you would like to provide gifts for a guest, please sign up and we ask that you follow these guidelines and instructions: Please keep cost...

12/12/2025

WOWZERS! Thank you a whole bunch to some CSL employees who delivered this absolute windfall of food donations!! We will use a lot to serve our shelter guests but can also make food baskets for others we serve! 🥰🥰🥰

12/12/2025

Thanks to Jimmy John's in Manteno, we have been receiving loaves of bread and the bread that is removed when a sandwich is ordered with bread taken out. All of this would normally be thrown away. We give away loaves to our guests who want them, make garlic bread for dinner, croutons for our salads, and breadcrumbs for casseroles! Thanks to Laverne Lanting Jordan, Ben Randak, and Olivia Astle for making this happen! 🥖🥖🤗🤗

12/11/2025

This morning, a Kankakee woman experiencing homelessness was successfully discharged from a treatment program. She was transported back to Kankakee to meet with caseworkers at Duane Dean to set up her aftercare treament. From there, she was escorted to Walmart to purchase a few essentials, and then to Fortitude to complete paperwork for shelter. From Fortitude, Cornerstone took her to check into Fortitude emergency shelter lodging and to complete Cornerstone’s intake process so she could go from shelter to permanent housing within 2 weeks!
THIS IS HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK!!!
Community Collabs at its FINEST!!

12/02/2025

We must find a way in our community to sanction overnight warming centers! No red tape, no permits, few restrictions and parameters, just permission and visibility so those in need know where to go! The Homeless Task Force is working on this, but the time for deliberation has passed for Winter 2025. 🙁
Sanction overnight warming shelters now!

Multiple warming shelters have opened in Indy as windchill temperatures have begun to stretch into the teens at night. The FSSA is also encouraging Hoosiers across the state to call 211 if they need help accessing a warming center near them.

DETAILS: https://fox59.com/news/warming-centers-open-in-indianapolis-additional-shelter-information-available-via-indiana-211/

12/01/2025

We have been enjoying our kitchen volunteers as we began our evening services last week! If you’d like to help us make and serve a meal, here is the sign up link!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F094BA9AA2CA0F49-60228156-kitchen