Walking around in frigid temperatures Monday afternoon, Jeff Edrington, strapped a 鈥淲ill U Help鈥� waterproof pack filled with identical packs meant for people living on the streets to put their prized possessions.
He didn鈥檛 go far from his hotel on New York Avenue in D.C., only a block or two, before he was literally embracing people without homes, crying with each other and praying together.
Edrington, the founder of came to the nation鈥檚 capital over the weekend armed with 500 backpacks and an unbelievable amount of compassion.
He visited numerous organizations that help people who are homeless to hand out these packs, picking times when large groups would be there for meals and even a Super Bowl party a local church hosted for people in the city without shelter.
鈥淓verything they own is all they can carry and even then, they worry about their things getting stolen, and so I thought, let’s make a huge backpack,” Edrington said “Let’s customize it just for the unsheltered.鈥�
The 60-pound backpack comes with a permanent marker and a space to write a message that all can see.
鈥淲aterproofing was essential, being out in the elements 鈥� but also having a spot to write a message so you can come out of this isolation,” he said. “Our mission statement is to end isolation for the unsheltered and the lonely.鈥�
The backpacks are the first thing Edrington offers people on the streets. Then he offers a hug and an attempt to reconnect them with loved ones.
Edrington spoke about the people he meets who feel forgotten, 鈥淭hey heal through human connection and I want to take this one step further. What’s the fastest way you can connect with a human? To hug them, to bring them in, to embrace them like you love them, because you do love them.鈥�
He walked blocks in Downtown D.C., handing out backpacks, and offering hugs and fist bumps along the way.
Edrington came across a woman who did not want a backpack at first. After talking with her for a few minutes she said, 鈥淣obody cares.鈥�
Edrington stood strong and immediately responded, 鈥滻 care.鈥�
He repeated it several times ending with, 鈥淚 came from Georgia to bring you backpacks and tell you Jesus has not forgotten you.鈥�
They then embraced for several moments with tears in their eyes.
He gave her several backpacks to share with folks who she usually runs into on the streets as well as a few hundred dollars to buy warmer clothes and shoes for those living in the elements this winter.
The previous night he paid for three men who were at a Super Bowl party for the homeless to come stay at a hotel.
While he offered to reconnect her and several others with loved ones from their past they all declined. Edrington said the vast majority decline the offer but when it is accepted and reconnection is established, it is an unbelievably joyous occasion.
鈥淲e go out and just say, ‘Hey, is there anybody here that like to reconnect with a loved one? Maybe it was a mentor, maybe it was a coach, maybe it was a pastor, someone that saw value in you. Is there somebody we can reconnect you with?’ Because what we have found is that is the fastest way we can get someone off the street,” Edrington said.
‘He will never be on the street again’
With little information such as name and general location of where the loved one once lived, Edrington can use public databases to locate a phone number. He and other volunteers with the nonprofit record a 30-second video and send it to them.
He told WTOP about one such reconnection in Tennessee, where a man had been taken off the streets and sent to a rehab facility, and he told volunteers that he would like to reconnect with his sister.
Edrington sent the recorded message and said, 鈥淔ifteen minutes later, she sends a message back, ‘Yes, I would.’ So immediately, I pick up the phone and ask what’s the story? What’s going on?鈥�
鈥淪he’s in tears and says, 鈥業鈥檓 here with my mom. We haven’t talked to my brother or seen him in five years. We had been calling all the jails trying to locate him, and we couldn’t. He will never be on the street again.’鈥�
When he got out of rehab, his sister and mother picked him up and sent Edrington a heartfelt message thanking him for reconnecting them.
Edrington said his mission to help homeless people started in D.C. When he was 10 years old, he came to the nation鈥檚 capital on a church trip and served at a soup kitchen.
鈥淚t opened my eyes as a 10-year-old to what was going on in the world,” he told WTOP. “We had people here on the streets of D.C. that needed food. They needed shelter and serving. I can remember taking them plates of food and them just looking tethered, just looking defeated, and thinking, ‘My gosh, these people need help.’鈥�
He didn鈥檛 start his nonprofit until adulthood. Edrington was going to his office in Athens, Georgia, when he saw a man without housing.
鈥淚鈥檓 watching people walk by, it’s like they don’t even know or care that they’re there,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey need a voice.鈥�
He decided, 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna hug this guy. I’m gonna reach out, I’m gonna give him a hug. That hug changed everything for me.鈥�
鈥淚t got into my heart and into my soul that all these folks want is just to be acknowledged as humans, and how better else can we acknowledge that than by hugging someone that hasn’t bathed in two weeks,鈥� he continued.
Edrington said they embraced for 10 minutes in tears, 鈥淎ll because of a hug.鈥�
That one moment led to backpacks, reconnections and the creation of Will U Help. Since then Edrington and volunteers have dotted the country from Manhattan to Birmingham, Alabama.
Edrington said volunteering to help someone find a loved one is as simple as filling out the organization’s 聽and submitting it with a 30 second video or voice message.
Before initiating a case, the nonprofit makes sure the loved one is at least 18 years old and contact is not legally prohibited.
He also asked that folks humanize people on the street more and try connecting with these isolated individuals.
鈥淭he next guy you see walking down, when you’re walking down the street, that’s homeless, take two minutes, one minute out of your time, and just embrace him and tell him he’s not forgotten and that he’s wanted,” he said.
That action could change the world, he said.
“I would invite and I would challenge people to do that,” he said.
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