A Bag Full of Hope: Atziri Campos' Initiative to Raise Awareness and Support the Homeless Community in Wichita
- Claudia Amaro
- hace 51 minutos
- 5 min de lectura
Wichita, Kansas | August 19, 2026
By Claudia Amaro | Planeta Venus
Every year, a week before Thanksgiving, Atziri Campos, a Latino single mother living in Wichita, Kansas, walks the streets of the city to personally deliver Blessing Bags to dozens of homeless people. With her independent initiative, ICT Blessing Bags, Campos distributes basic hygiene items, coats, and food directly to those who need it most, especially behind the church on Second Street, near The Lord's Diner. This work, which began in December 2019, was born out of Campos' desire to overcome the bureaucratic barriers of traditional shelters and provide warmth, safety, and visibility to a vulnerable population during one of the coldest and loneliest times of the year.
The awakening of a vocation of solidarity
Campos' childhood inspired this initiative. She grew up in an immigrant, family-like environment, where she often heard that homeless people simply "didn't want to work." However, that idea never convinced her, because she understood that each person faces very complex mental health situations and problems. Campos promised to help her community when she finished her studies, and after graduation, she turned her empathy into action, convinced that everyone deserves support and compassion.
Stories like this are especially important now, as homelessness and mental health crises affect Wichita, Kansas' largest city, where the Latino community continues to grow and demonstrate its social commitment. What makes ICT Blessing Bags special is that it breaks away from the traditional welfare model. While large organizations often require IDs, proof of income, or complicated paperwork, this initiative eliminates those requirements and reaches those who need it directly. Analyzing this independent work shows not only the daily hardships of the homeless, but also how Wichita's Latino community can lead life-changing efforts that challenge cultural biases.
ICT Blessing Bags started with a logistical challenge in December 2019. At the time, Atziri Campos, who raises her two children alone, bought simple, inexpensive bags from an online store and filled them with basic items. Her original idea was to collaborate with The Lord's Diner, a soup kitchen in the Catholic Diocese of Wichita that offers free dinners every night to anyone hungry in the city center. However, the administration told her she could deliver supplies in the dining room only if she had at least 300 bags ready. Instead of being discouraged, Campos changed her plan and delivered her first 100 hygiene bags to the women's shelter of Catholic Charities, a Catholic Church nonprofit that supports vulnerable families. That first step taught her she needed a direct way to deliver donations without relying on other organizations' strict rules.
In 2020, amid the COVID-19 crisis, community solidarity grew. Campos used her personal Facebook account to share the project's needs, and her acquaintances and local community responded immediately. This way, she assembled bags of blessings that included masks and disinfectants. At that time, ICT Blessing Bags received support from its first sponsors in Wichita. Among them was a local personal injury law firm, which often supports community causes and was the first corporate donor. A restaurant chain also joined, contributing 100 sandwiches a year for two years to complement the meal.
Each bag Campos delivers is designed to be sustainable and durable, avoiding plastic supermarket bags that break easily and aren't meant to carry belongings. The packages include essential personal hygiene items, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer. They also carry useful clothing for Kansas winters, such as thick socks, hand warmers, hats, and small first aid kits, plus water bottles and non-perishable snacks. For Campos, delivering these items means more than just giving material things: "It's not just about that, it's about stopping to talk to them; that makes the difference," she says, stressing that direct contact and conversation are vital to combat the social isolation of homeless people.
Maintaining an independent initiative in Wichita has not been easy, especially because of the economic and personal challenges. In 2024, the founder had to take a forced break because family problems and the need to raise her young children alone kept her from making the annual distribution. In addition, institutional giving in the United States shifted: after many corporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs closed or cut back, the financial support Campos received decreased significantly. "The last year was more like starting over alone," says Campos. Despite having to "start from scratch," spreading her work on social media, such as TikTok, and on local television has helped her attract new individual donors, including a local church that gave her a check of support after seeing her story on television.
One of the most important achievements of ICT Blessing Bags is not measured in material resources, but in the change in mentality of those around Campos. Although the distribution takes only an hour, the impact on volunteers lasts a lifetime. Her parents' participation in the deliveries on Second Street completely changed their view of the homeless. "My mom accompanies me every year and has changed her perspective, and so has my dad; they no longer say the same things they used to say," she says excitedly. This family change shows the heart of the project: to demonstrate that the stigma towards homeless people is often born from a lack of closeness and a lack of understanding of their struggles, including the mental health crises that Latino immigrants sometimes prefer not to mention.
For Campos, the true success of his initiative lies not in her name, but in inspiring others to commit to their community. "It's not about me, it's about getting other people to show up in their community," she says. With peace and resilience, she invites Wichitans not to be overwhelmed by major social issues and to do their "bit" with what they have, whether it's starting with just 20 bags or donating things they no longer use at home. As Atziri says in an inspiring phrase: "Let's not be waiting for a leader to come along to solve everything. You have to start with yourself and contribute."
How to support ICT Blessing Bags?
If you want to join this effort, you don't have to wait for the holidays. Supply collection is ongoing throughout the year, especially for new items or items in very good condition. To contact Atziri Campos, coordinate the delivery of donations, view the Amazon wish list, or volunteer to pack the bags, you can contact them through the following official means:
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