she glows

By Deborah C. Gerbers | Photo by Mollie Shutt

A Passion to Serve

Sally Segerson is a local hero to many people in Fort Wayne. As founder of Street Reach for the Homeless, she works tirelessly to serve as an advocate for our city’s homeless, an often unseen and unheard population deserving of help and hope.

Although Fort Wayne continues to expand into an up-and-coming city with more housing, amenities and offerings, there is a constant, many times overlooked problem: homelessness. But there are people like Segerson who are fighting to help resolve this issue and bring more awareness to it with the efforts of her organization. Street Reach for the Homeless is her outreach initiative that advocates for and provides food and supplies to Fort Wayne’s homeless population.

“I have passionately advocated on behalf of those who are often unseen and unheard,” she said.

For years, Segerson has selflessly spent endless hours to help our homeless. She has worked with the Fort Wayne City Council and the mayor to provide the homeless with necessary basic supplies like bedding, meals, tents and clothing when needed. She recalled a recent example of helping find one particular homeless woman appropriate business attire for an upcoming interview.

“I’ll never forget that feeling, helping her prepare for a job interview—a step in the direction of bettering her own life,” said Segerson.

Despite having a full-time day job, she devotes two nights each week to hit the streets and meet with people in need of necessities. Armed with tents, food, sheets, blankets and clothing, she delivers hope and help in many forms to people living on the streets. Most area residents are unaware of the accurate number of homeless people in Fort Wayne due to the fact that a person who may sleep beneath a bridge most nights might have a floor or cot at times. Segerson fights to spread knowledge about this misconception and stresses the importance of seeing the larger picture.

“If someone has a medical condition or an injury that prevents them from working, they are forced to make choices about how their money is spent,” she explained. “If that person needs to pay their bills instead of their car payment, then they lose the car, are unable to work the job that pays the bills and thus suffers many levels of difficulty and struggle.”

Knowing the potential each individual possesses is key to keeping up the efforts to reach out to everyone in need. Helping people with tangible resources like shelter and food not only gives Segerson a sense of doing immediate good, but also helps them further their own success, overcome struggles and actively better themselves.

“The genuine thanks you see in someone’s eyes is one of the most rewarding things ever,” she said.

Learn more at facebook.com/streetreachforthehomeless/ a