Corpus Commons

At the beginning of this month, we launched Friends of Corpus with a big goal: 100 Friends by the end of July.

We’re blown away! Over 100 neighbors (and counting!) heard the invitation and stepped up as monthly supporters. Boiseans take care of each other. 💙

The month may be ending soon, but the invitation to become a Friend of Corpus isn’t. None of what we do is possible without the generosity of our community, and we hope to see our group of Friends continue to grow.

Together we’re easing the burden of homelessness. Will you join us?

Learn more + join: corpuscommons.org/friendsofcorpus/

How do you get your important documents when you have no mailing address and no ID to prove who you are?

When John first came to Corpus, that was his biggest hurdle. We gave him a mailing address here at Corpus, and our Operations Manager, Jordan, worked alongside him for months – navigating paperwork, waitlists, and trips to the DMV – to restore his ID and birth certificate.

“It means a lot because they care,” John says. “It’s like they’re my family now, you know?”

Jordan says working with John has meant just as much to her. He’s motivated and ready to move forward, and together, they’re working on getting him into a home of his own.

Our team supports neighbors like John 365 days a year. Friends of Corpus makes that possible. Learn more + join: https://corpuscommons.org/friendsofcorpus/

Will YOU be a Friend we can count on?

Please SHARE this post and JOIN US in easing the burden of local homelessness.

Boise's only daytime shelter needs ongoing support to stay open 365 days a year.

Friends of Corpus is a community of generous neighbors who show up every month so we can provide life-changing services (meals, showers, bathrooms, job support, and much more!) every day.

Help us close the gap and reach our goal. Join TODAY and become Friend #97, #98, #99, or #100 -- link in the comments!

Why? Because for hundreds of our most vulnerable neighbors, Corpus is the only place that shows up for them every single day.

A guest came into Corpus Commons last week with everything she owned in a grocery bag. She'd been sleeping somewhere different every night. Why? She was fleeing domestic violence, overnight shelters were full, and she couldn’t risk being fined for sleeping outside.

She came to Corpus for a shower, a warm meal, and a place to rest. Many Boiseans don't know Corpus Commons exists. We were founded in 2003 as Corpus Christi House by local faith leaders who saw neighbors with nowhere to go during the day.

Today, we're Boise's only daytime shelter. We're a home base where our staff builds genuine relationships with our guests over time, connecting them to resources that fit their unique situation. But it’s getting harder to build these relationships as three pressures converge into a perfect storm.

First, capacity. Boise no longer has a low-barrier emergency overnight shelter, and existing shelters are full, with waitlists in the hundreds. Corpus absorbs much of that gap by day, meeting around 200 neighbors' basic needs before they return to shelter, if they're lucky, or into hiding, if they're still waitlisted.

Second, heat. It's only getting hotter, and heat is a genuine health risk for our unhoused community. Staff have already responded to more heat-related emergencies this year than in past summers. We're part of Our Path Home's Summer Cooling Plan, offering misters, shade, water, and a safe place to be during the heat of the day.

Third, the Galloway Law. Since July 2025, Boise has enforced a statewide ban on "public camping," regardless of whether shelter beds are available. Its intent was to move people toward resources and reduce visible homelessness. What it's actually done is push people further from help.

Our unhoused neighbors are scattering, making it harder for outreach teams to find and support them. Criminalizing someone's existence doesn't address why they're unsheltered; it only widens the gap between them and providers like Corpus who can help.

This law rests on assumptions I hear constantly: that people choose homelessness, that they just need a job, that drug use is the root cause. No one chooses to go without a safe place to sleep, a shower, or a meal. Per the 2025 State of Homelessness in Idaho report from the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, 44% have a disability, and 8% are 62 or older. Nearly half had an income when they sought services, and 78% were experiencing homelessness for the first time. The leading causes: domestic violence at 30%, loss of income, and rising rent at 23%. None of that is solved by making someone harder to find.

Homelessness can feel like a crisis too big for one person to fix. But there's something simple you can do: become a Friend of Corpus, giving predictable monthly support that lets us plan ahead so we're ready for the next guest who walks through our doors.

More than 80 generous neighbors already support Corpus monthly through Friends of Corpus. Our goal is to reach 100 by the end of July. Will you be a friend we can count on?

Boiseans experiencing homelessness are not a problem to be solved. They are people navigating a crisis in our city without their basic needs met. It takes a community to change a community.

Together, we can support our neighbors year-round. Learn more and join Friends of Corpus TODAY (link in the comments).

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The story above was written by our Executive Director Jessica Abbott and recently published in the Idaho Statesman, Idaho Press, and Idaho Capital Sun.

Thanks to our incredible community, we’re already at 90 Friends of Corpus!

Our goal is to reach 100 Friends by the end of this month.

Becoming an ongoing supporter is the most practical way to support our neighbors experiencing homelessness right now. Will you help us reach our goal by becoming a Friend we can count on? Learn more at https://corpuscommons.org/friendsofcorpus/

Friends of Corpus are more than supporters, they’re partners in our mission.

Here’s what you can expect as a Friend.

Learn more and join: https://corpuscommons.org/friendsofcorpus/

We want to give a huge shout-out and heartfelt thank you to the Miller Family for generously donating a new deep freezer to Corpus Commons!

This incredible gift will allow us to accept and store even more frozen food donations, helping us provide nutritious meals to the guests we serve every day.

Community is at its strongest when we come together to help and support one another. Acts of kindness like this make a real difference and remind us that we can accomplish so much more when we work together.

Thank you, Miller Family, for investing in our mission and in our community. Your generosity will have a lasting impact on the lives of so many. ❤️

What's even better than bottled water donations?

Becoming a friend our unhoused community can count on - link in comments!

Boise's only day shelter sees surge in demand as record heat grips the city Boise's Corpus Commons day shelter is serving 200 guests daily amid record heat, while staff warn Idaho's Galloway Law is scattering vulnerable residents away from critical services.