On July 28, 2022, Soles in Need, a club created by a group of Poway’s Del Norte High School students, hosted a shoe distribution event in partnership with San Diego Serving Seniors, a non-profit organization that supports low-income seniors, at their community center at 1525 Fourth Avenue.

According to Arie Ibarrola, one of the founders of the club, “Soles in Need was created by two Del Norte High School students, myself, and my best friend Collin Schwarz, as we both share a love of shoes and wanted to do something impactful for the San Diego community. So, we decided to combine the two and create Soles in Need at Del Norte High School.”

Ibarrola says that the main mission of Soles in Need is to help the homeless and underprivileged communities in San Diego.

“The purpose of Soles in Need is to focus on the collectivization of shoes and necessities, which will then be donated to those in need in the San Diego community,” says Ibarrola.

According to Collin Schwarz, another one of the founders of the club, “After today’s event with Serving Seniors, we are gladly proud to say that we were able to provide nearly 40-50 pairs of shoes to low-income senior citizens.”

According to the most recent WeAllCount Data from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, there are 8,427 people experiencing homelessness in the region of San Diego, which is a significant 10% increase from 2020. This is counting those who are sheltered and those who are unsheltered. Twenty-five percent of unsheltered people and 24% of sheltered people are 55 years old or older. This data on San Diego’s homeless population reveals how the services provided by clubs like Soles in Need are more important than ever in this city, especially for the older homeless population.

In the future, the club plans to continue providing shoes to San Diego’s communities in need, but they wish to expand and provide a larger variety of goods.

According to Schwarz, “We honestly started this organization to help provide mainly shoes to the homeless and in need, but we recently realized how big of an impact we can make and now we wish to expand in multiple directions. For example, in the winter we are in the early stages of planning a coat and blanket drive for those in the cold weather of the city. This is just one example of the kind of direction we are heading.” The impact that this club has will go beyond helping people own a comfortable pair of walking shoes.

To learn more about San Diego Serving Seniors, you can check out their website at servingseniors.org/. If you want to learn more about Soles in Need, you can check out their Instagram account @dnhs.solesinneed.