POCATELLO — The Aid For Friends 16th annual Homeless Awareness Encampment is Saturday and Sunday in Caldwell Park. The encampment’s goal is to inform the public about homelessness in this area as Aid For Friends celebrates its 38th year of service to Southeastern Idaho. Volunteers will sleep in cardboard boxes in possible frigid temperatures at Caldwell Park, 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.

Originally a homeless shelter that provided lodging and some meals, Aid For Friends has evolved into a multi-faceted resource center serving many. 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 services operated here. Grassroots response led to the emergence of Aid For Friends to offer safe lodging to the needy.

“The encampment demonstrates what our community would experience without Aid For Friends,” said AFF Executive Director B.J. Stensland. “On any given night, about 40 people are sleeping in the shelter. Otherwise, they would be on their own and probably be sleeping outdoors in the cold. Aid For Friends addresses the needs of homeless families and individuals with a warm shelter and vital supportive services.”

Those services illustrate how AFF has evolved, providing emergency shelter, connecting case management to clients with resources to secure employment and medical services, managing permanent supportive housing, and offering homeless prevention and rapid re-housing assistance. AFF also serves as this region’s access point for initial housing assessment.

The highlight of Aid For Friends’ many years of service to the homeless in this community is the completion and opening of the homeless shelter in July 2021. The new facility offers twice the capacity as the old shelter and many more amenities. Since COVID-19 is still a serious health threat in communal living facilities, the shelter continues to abide by the Centers for Disease Control COVID guidelines of social distancing in sleeping quarters and can safely house 45 people.

The encampment raises money for AFF services through tax-deductible pledges solicited by volunteers. “This fundraiser provides supplemental revenue to offset the total costs to operate the shelter annually, which has increased with the new facility,” Stensland said. “We are relying on a successful encampment. 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 P.O. Box 4233, Pocatello, ID 83205; made directly at the AFF website, aidforfriendspocatello.com, at the donation link bit.ly/aff-encampment; or by supporting a participant. The 2022 goal is to raise $10,000. Since 2007, encampments raised a total of $204,953 as well as awareness of the homeless problem.

The volunteers will face the same winter weather conditions as someone sleeping on the streets, but on Sunday morning, they will go home to a warm house, a hot shower and their families. These volunteers will also know that because of their sacrifice, homeless families and individuals have a bed, meals and essential services at the AFF homeless shelter.

The encampment actually begins on Friday with construction of the base camp from cardboard boxes loaned by Pacific Recycling. It officially starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, when volunteers move into camp and construct shelters from boxes and tarps. The resulting camp is much like makeshift shelters found in cities with no AFF-type agency to provide a safe haven for the homeless.

Stensland said anyone wishing to visit the encampment is welcome to stop by for a hot beverage. Those with medical conditions such as diabetes, heart condition or decreased sensation in their extremities are cautioned not to stay all night.

During Saturday’s lunch provided by the Central Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a city of Pocatello Outdoor Recreation staffer will instruct all volunteers in winter survival training, including health safety, frostbite, proper clothing and equipment, and emergency preparedness. Heat will be limited to a zero environmental impact fire in a 55-gallon drum, with donated firewood. All safety precautions, including on-site fire extinguishers and portable toilets, will be observed.

Boy Scout Troop 315 will prepare and serve a “soup kitchen” dinner Saturday night from donated ingredients. The canteen, staffed by community volunteers, will provide coffee, hot chocolate and cookies. Sunday morning, the participants will enjoy breakfast donated by Jennifer Wagoner and Lorenzo Miranda’s Dutch Dynasty.

The Gate City Singers will provide a musical interlude for the volunteers at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the LDS Caldwell Park Building. The American Legion Riders will provide Saturday night security. Donations of “camp food” — canned chili, stew, tuna, ham and soup — will be collected at Caldwell Park by Modern Woodmen of America for the shelter’s pantry.

For more information or to make a donation, call Aid For Friends at 208-232-0178