Olympia Downtown Nightshift serves coffee, also recycles blankets, clothes 

Last Tuesday morning found Perry Onorio standing in front of the Olympia Union Gospel Mission at 5:15 a.m., braving the wind and rain, as he served several gallons of coffee to about 30 homeless individuals waiting to reenter the Mission to have breakfast. 

 “I’ve known ever since I was a kid that I wanted to serve others,” the native of Olympia remarked as he poured the hot libation into eight-ounce paper cups.  “It’s what I was called to do.” 

 After earning a BA from the Los Angeles Film Studies Center and working for AmeriCorps, several non-profits and disaster response agencies, he returned to Olympia in 2007.   “I found a home in Olympia, and I’ve lived downtown for the past 16 years,” he explained, “and I knew about the homeless community, so I began to go out at night to serve them coffee.”   

 In doing so, Onorio noticed that many of the homeless he talked with needed clothes and blankets – particularly on cold nights and at times when there are no services available.  This in turn led him to begin Olympia Downtown Nightshift.  

Begun a dozen years ago, the organization serves the homeless community between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. most mornings by providing not only coffee but blankets, clothing and food.  Perry explained that what he does is particularly critical during the cold weather when some of the homeless are huddled in doorways, next to buildings or in a tunnel. 

 “The simple gesture of offering a cup of coffee opens the door to conversation and to finding out what other needs they have that night – a blanket, sleeping bag, coat, hoodie or a full change of clothes,” he added. 

 Perry explained that keeping enough blankets and clothing on hand for the homeless he meets is difficult.   As an example, he said that on some nights he gives out 10 to 15 blankets a night for a minimum of at least 200 blankets a month. 

 “They need clean blankets and sometimes clothes almost daily because when living and sleeping outside, their belongings get wet and dirty,” Onorio said.  He added that many discarded blankets and articles end up in alleys, on sidewalks and streets, and sometimes dumpsters only to be picked up by the city’s clean teams and hauled to a landfill. 

Onorio added that when the city’s clean teams know he is out collecting discarded blankets and clothing, they will often leave the items curbside for him to pick up. 

 “A giant pile of dirty blankets is like Christmas for me,” he added. 

 “Hundreds of blankets a month - good quality, large, warm, blankets, as well as all necessary clothing for everyone, are wasted as trash while people freeze on the street, desperate for something warm,” he emphasized. 

 For years, Onorio has collected these discarded items, washed, dried and then distributed the cleaned items to those who need them.  He estimates that between 75 and 90 percent of what he collects in redistributed.  

 “This has proven to be the most financially and environmentally responsible way to help keep someone on the streets warm,” he added.  “But the costs have been prohibitive.” 

 Up to this point Onorio has self-funded Olympia Downtown Nightshift; however, now he needs some help. 

 “I am in desperate need of a laundry facility, or at least a place to lease with a washer/dryer hook-up, preferably in the downtown area,” he explained. “I could really use the help.” 

The organization is also looking for a couple of volunteers to serve on its board of directors.

 Olympia Downtown Nightshift can be reached at (360) 209-2039 or (360) 350-8888.  Email is downtown@olynightshift.org; to donate visit www.olynightshift.org.