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About Us

HisHandsHisFeet Ministries was Started by Ken & Ann Martin and Seth McBlair in the spring of 2002. They began with a vision of service and a couple of gym bags stuffed with jackets and socks. After seeing the effects of 9/11 in our community,and the alarming effects this had on our economy, they realized there were simply not enough social services available to help the people in desperate need of those services. At this time, the region was experiencing cut backs of services for the mentally ill and seniors. Additionally impacting the community, there were several Women’s and family shelters forced to close their doors due to the lack of government funding. Knowing that there are approximately ten thousand homeless people in the Portland Metro area really tugs at your heart.

Ken will never forget the first family he met that lived on the streets, a mom, dad, 3 year old daughter and a 3 month old son. He could not imagine this being real. Talking with the dad, Ken found that he had lost his job due to the economic paranoia and recession after 9/11, and,with just two or three bad financial decisions, he and his family were victed from their apartment.

Another man Ken met during his first few months working in the homeless community was an Army Veteran named Jeremiah. It was 3 weeks after Jeremiah had open heart surgery, yet he was living under the Steel Bridge in downtown Portland. Despite his service to the nation, there were no programs in place to provide Jeremiah with a place to stay while he recovered.

We recently discovered that at one local high school, Aloha High, there are 80 homeless children. Some 32 of these homeless youth do not have a permanent address, which means they are transient and unable to stay at any one place very long. The impact of homelessness at any age is tremendous but at this critical time it can devastate the rest of a young person’s life.

Today we are still truly dedicated to helping the less fortunate in this Greater Portland Metro Area. Loyal and extremely hard-working people are the key to our success — we have found that if we get enough volunteers with the right motivation, we can achieve anything we set our minds to.

We now go out into the community on Fridays and Saturdays. We partner with the Union Gospel Mission once a month and currently serve two low-to-no income senior apartment complexes in the downtown Portland area and a low income apartment complex in the Hillsboro area. We provide hot meals, give clothes, food boxes, and we have put together an 8 page resource list to meet the myriad of needs we have seen on the streets and in the low-to-no income housing that we serve. This resource directory addresses issues ranging from spousal abuse and drug addiction to food boxes, day showers, veteran’s assistance, employment services, medical and dental care, runaway teens and so much more. We also do follow up with the people we meet—speaking over the phone or meeting for coffee to encourage and motivate them to stay on track with their plan to better themselves.

We are a proud to be part of the City of Portland’s team to end homelessness by 2010, and we have been endorsed by former City Commissioner Erik Stein. We have adopted the Villa Capri East Apartments, a very low income apartment complex in Hillsboro, in an effort to help out the struggling families there. Here we will also hope to see how this effects the drugs,crime, and abuse issues this complex is currently overrun with. We are looking forward to an exciting year in 2011!

Please contact Ken Martin if you are interested in volunteering or partnering with us. We are in need of the following items on a continual basis: Socks and underwear, clothing, blankets, hygiene products and food donations.

Click on the link below for a printable flyer in PDF format that includes all this information and more!

His Hands His Feet Ministries Poverty and Homeless Outreach Flyer



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