On a cold, sunny Saturday morning, two white vans pull up to the west side of McPherson Square Park in Northwest D.C. By the time the vehicle’s doors open, eager homeless men and women have lined up down the sidewalk, awaiting the coffee, food and clothing that these vans customarily deliver.

Walter Newby, one of the van’s drivers, is among many who come to Franklin and McPherson parks to give food and supplies to the homeless, independent of any professional service provider. Newby has been delivering to these parks for three years as part of Union Bethel AME Church’s outreach program. Today, in addition to the toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo and mouthwash that are in the standard hygiene packets, Newby gives out a few coats, some shoes and sandwiches.

Stepping up to the van, one man gratefully says, “I’ll take a sandwich. I haven’t eaten in 2 days.”

While the homeless men and women at the park are thankful for Newby’s kindness, professional outreach workers are often wary of such efforts. Chet Grey, the Director of Homeless Services at the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District (BID) said that while such services sometimes meet an immediate need, they are not an effective use of resources because they are inconsistent and often overlap. He said that there are often “five groups (at the park) on Saturday and no groups on Monday.”

According to Grey, independent volunteers began providing services at these parks more than two decades ago, when there was a greater need for them. Since that time, professional organizations such as McKenna’s Wagon and the Salvation Army’s Grate Patrol have developed and provide food daily in the large parks around the city. Thus, Grey said, the volunteers, many of whom are connected to church groups, “really don’t do much good.”

Similarly, Newby said that on weekends in the summer, there are so many volunteers in Franklin and McPherson Squares that they are almost fighting to give out food, while in the winter volunteers in the parks are scarce.

Pete Schenck, currently an outreach consultant for the D.C. BID, noticed comparable inconsistencies when he worked at the Grate Patrol, accompanying the food trucks on their daily routes. Schenck said that he encountered numerous food trucks that were either leaving as the Grate Patrol arrived, or arriving as he drove away.

In an attempt to provide more consistent service to homeless men and women, the D.C. BID has joined with freelance volunteers, homeless men and women and other professional care organizations to create a movement called the Meals Access Project. The main goal of this project is to coordinate volunteer and professional homeless care providers so that food, supplies and services are distributed throughout all parts of the city, reaching more homeless men and women on a more consistent schedule.

As part of the Meals Access Project, Schenck has coordinated efforts with the Urban Institute to collect and map the routes, dates and locations that volunteer and professional homeless care organizations provide supplies around the city. With a mapping system that documents which areas each group of volunteers and professional providers service, it will be easier to spread resources across the city to meet the needs of the homeless population in all areas.

The participants in the Meals Access Program also strive to increase the quality of food provided on the streets. While indoor food providers have to obtain sanitation licenses from the Department of Health, there is no universal standard in quality or distribution for people volunteering in parks, who often bring food from their homes or churches. Craig Keller, a program director at First Helping, said that due to poor nutrition homeless men and women customarily have fragile immune systems, making quality standards in the food provided to them even more important.

Once organizations and volunteers are working in coordination, Keller said that he hopes that certain gaps in homeless services will be addressed, such as the city’s lack of an indoor dinner venue for men. Though the outdoor dinner services of McKenna’s Wagon and similar providers meet a great need, Keller said that it would be ideal if churches could coordinate with volunteers to find an indoor location to serve evening meals and centralize social and medical services.

Even thought the Meals Access Project may increase regulations in homeless care, the goal is not to discourage volunteers from helping. Rather, Keller said that he hopes to bring all groups into the larger sphere of homeless care so that the city can make the best of use of its available resources.

“It’s terrific that people want to help the homeless,” Grey added, noting that if providers and volunteers can coordinate their efforts, more homeless men and women will be served.