Support the HTC’s goal of raising $10,000 by midnight on Giving Tuesday (Nov. 30) by supporting our #iGiveCatholic campaign! Details at the link below:

https://neworleans.igivecatholic.org/organizations/harry-tompson-center 

Harry Tompson Center is a day shelter that provides vital services to people experiencing homelessness in downtown New Orleans. Founded by Fr. Harry Tompson, S.J. of Immaculate Conception Church, our Jesuit principles guide us in providing a safe space where houseless individuals can find respite and community while accessing a variety of services designed to meet their basic daily needs. Our goal is to make their days a little easier while we work to help connect them with the resources that they need to get off the streets.

For people living without shelter, access to hygiene and sanitation facilities presents a huge barrier to their well-being and quality of life. HTC’s flagship sunrise shower service is one of the only operations in town that allows unhoused individuals to take a warm shower, use the restroom, brush their teeth, and receive personal care and hygiene items to keep them feeling clean and cared for. Since January of this year, our Center has provided over 11,000 showers to our guests.

When guests arrive at our Center, we take the opportunity to build personal relationships with them so that we can better meet their needs and connect them with our wide variety of services, which include access hygiene and sanitation facilities, laundry, case management, housing assistance, healthcare, phone lines, WIFI, support programs, legal resources, and more.

We see between 80-100 guests each day. Every individual who enters our Center is treated with love, compassion, dignity, and respect in keeping with our Jesuit principles. Our team of staff and volunteers includes physicians, nurses, counselors, social workers, priests, students, and community leaders who lend their time and talents to our guests.We are consistently reminded of the resilience of the human spirit and the presence of miracles in our day to day lives when our guests share their triumphs with us. We are often told that our presence in their lives makes them feel visible, cared for, and grateful. 

We know that our services are changing peoples' lives on a daily basis. Since January, we have successfully helped more than 114 individuals find housing, effectively ending their homelessness for good.

We rely on funding from individual donors to account for more than 40% of our operating budget, and this year we need more support than ever. The continuance of the pandemic has left many of our guests in desperate situations, and we are seeing new faces daily who are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. We appreciate your contributions this Giving Tuesday and hope it warms your heart to know that your participation through #iGiveCatholic makes our work possible.