Programs
We create sustainable programs to alleviate adversities by restoring dignity, driven by radical love, to do this through compassion and bringing support, hope, and resources to those facing significant life hardships, and challenges.
Get Involved
- Hotshots Mobile Street Feedings: every Sunday night, our volunteers pick up high quality hot food from various restaurants, assemble them into packages with water bottles, protein shakes, and nutritious snacks, then head out to distribute them to unsheltered homeless people before they sleep all across Downtown. Over the years, OIB has mapped out where our homeless friends reside in the streets, and we have had the privilege of serving familiar faces and new ones on a weekly basis. Since 2018, we have served over 100,000 hot meals to homeless people across Houston and surrounding areas. If you would like to join us, sign up here.
- The Wire: to avoid wasting food, Outreach in the Barrio has created a system for restaurants who either want to give away their baked goods at the end of the night or to cook fresh meals for the sake of feeding the hungry. We have many restaurants in our network, including Popeyes, Subway and Kabob Korner, but we are always looking for more partners to join the Wire and cater to the Hotshots Mobile Street Feeding or to our other events. If you are interested in partnering on the Wire, please fill out this form (restaurant google forms sign up). We make sure to comply with all of Houston’s food safety rules and regulations, so please check with your county before signing up.
- Sermon in the Streets: faith-based initiative where we host the Islamic Jummah prayer in a public park on the last Friday of every month. We invite a guest Imam to give the sermon, then we pray Jummah prayer and break bread with the homeless community, Muslim or not. For many homeless Muslim people, they do not have access to a mosque, so we brought the mosque to them. We also share our message of peace and invite anyone with a spiritual hunger ot learn what Muslims are all about. It is a beautiful event and we encourage everyone to join us! We started in December 2020, and have been growing ever since. We meet at the corner of Smith and McKinney St. To volunteer, sign up here.
- Winter Relief: when the winter season approaches, the homeless often freeze to death or close to it, and this should not be happening. Outreach in the Barrio sends its volunteers out into the streets despite the freezing temperatures to serve those in need and make sure they have all essentials to keep them warm, safe and alive. We collect & distribute blankets, sleeping bags, gloves, hand warmers, thermal socks, thermal pants and shirts, jackets, sweaters, rain ponchos, warm food, etc. during the winter months. To donate these kinds of goods, email us at outreachinthebarrio@gmail.com, and look for volunteer distribution opportunities on our Facebook page.
- Emergency Relief: we started with Hurricane Harvey and have since then been around for any emergency that requires immediate relief. Most recently, Winterstorm Uri took the lives of homeless and made conditions in the streets unbearable, but Outreach in the Barrio came through and provided winter goods and hot soup to the hundreds of people in need. We are prepared to act during the hurricane season and any other disaster that may strike. You can always go to our Facebook page to learn about how you can help.
Volunteer
We are Houstonians coming together for the greater good and collectively volunteer our time, energy and talents to those who need it the most. We create a safe, inclusive and non judgmental zone and invite all to participate.
Sponsor Program
We know that we can not save the world but we believe that together we can make this world a better place to live in. “If we save one person it’s as you have saved all humanity”. We encourage others to create systems such as OIB or whatever is best logistically and Outreach in their Barrios.
Charity Fund
We need to remain in compliance and we need your help to continue to feed hundreds of homeless brothers and sisters weekly.