House The Homeless, Inc. P.O. Box 2312 Austin, Tx 78768-2312 (512) 796-4366 info@housethehomeless.org   Heart And Sole Project     A New Program To Reach The 'Soles' Of Our Homeless!     Heart and Sole is an innovative, preventative health care, outreach nurturing program. Professional massage therapists will provide foot massages to Austin's' Homeless Community. A health care professional will perform medical triage coupled with additional instructions for both good foot care maintenance and wellness preservation. Members of Austin's' social service community will provide job training and housing opportunities. The encounter will conclude by providing new socks and shoes as a final investment in the individual's health care. The recipients of the nurturing package will be asked for a $5.OO contribution for the purpose of instilling a sense of value and worth to the individual recipient. (A hand up not a hand out). Proceeds will be used to offset the cost of the program. Alternatively, the proceeds will be donated either to the local homeless TV show, run and operated by homeless and formerly homeless persons, Dialogues For The Homeless, or to a new Homeless street newspaper enterprise run by and for the benefit of the homeless community.. Proceeds may even be used to support a local Homeless art initiative.   In addition to being the coordinating entity, House the Homeless, Inc., (a 5O1(c)3 local non- profit founded in Austin in 1989, Austin's' Resource for the Homeless (ARCH) will host the program at 501 West 7th Street. Additionally, two programs presently operating at the ARCH, Hands up to Housing, operated by the Capitol Area Homeless Alliance, and Re-Entry operated by Caritas of Austin will provide transitional housing and job information. The Lauterstein-Conway School of Massage will sponsor the massage component and guide massage therapists to the activity. Other participants will include, local businesses such as, "Work clothes and More" which has agreed to provide socks and the Saint David's Medical Center which will provide foot soak pans. We are also reaching out to local hotel/motel businesses for used towels Finally, we will be approaching Susan Dell's children's project and the DECOR Committee as a possible avenue for shoes.   We believe that traditionally, when it comes to funding, the social service component that always gets cut is the nurturing component. We must remember that these people have lost the most precious gift of life beyond life itself...family. It is for this reason that we have created a program that starts with nurturing and is then complimented with a social service component. We believe that by working together all things are possible.   In Unity there is Strength Richard R. Troxell Anticipated start up February 2000       UPDATE Next Session 6-6-01 House the Homeless, Inc. and the Lauterstein-Conway Massage School and Clinic joined forces to reach out to Austin’s homeless community and touch them with the gift of a foot massage. These two community oriented organizations have collaborated in creating this unique program called HEART AND SOLE. It launched on February 16th, 2000 from 3:00- 5:00 PM at Austin’s Resource Center for the Homeless, ARCH. Massage therapists soak, cleanse, and massage the feet of some of Austin’s homeless persons of a regular outreach nurturing program that will repeat on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month thereafter. Recipients will be provided with new socks and footwear to help put a spring into their step. An excellent volunteer opportunity! We desperately need sponsors for sneakers and other footware!