Less than a year ago, Harleth Sanchez was surfing the web and hoping for some career direction. The New Jersey native wanted a community service-driven profession and was anxious to relocate.

“I was looking for an opportunity to be on my own and I came across an ad that said NOPD was hiring,” she said. “Plus I was tired of the cold.”

Sanchez applied online and made three trips to New Orleans for testing and to sign her paperwork. She grew to love New Orleans more with each visit. She also made an instant connection with a portion of the city’s homeless population.

“It just made me feel bad to see these people in need,” she said. “It’s like they don’t have a choice.”

Only 20 years old when she entered the Academy, Sanchez settled in to daily life as a member of Class 174, but soon needed to find ways to distract herself from being homesick. It was her first time away from home so she missed her family.

Sanchez decided to spend some of her free time making a contribution to her new community, so she looked for a way to interact with some of the people she would soon be protecting and serving. She found her answer at The Mission.

Founded in 1989, the New Orleans Mission provides shelter, food and spiritual guidance to homeless men living on the streets, as well as services to economically disadvantaged residents in the facility’s Central City neighborhood.

Sanchez began spending part of her weekends pulling together packages of food for distribution to homeless and hungry citizens in the Sixth District.

“I enjoy it because it’s rewarding to see how grateful people are,” Sanchez said. “Plus it makes me more appreciative of what I have.”

On a typical Saturday, Sanchez works with Daniel Watts, The Mission’s Outreach Ministry Coordinator, and volunteers from churches near and far. The group assembles individual bags filled with snacks and sandwiches and then loads them into large shopping carts that they wheel out into the streets. Regulars greet them along the route and the volunteers provide them with sustenance for the soul as they pause to pray with each bag recipient. One man seeks out Sanchez and gives her signed copies of two poems he’s written.

“I thought it would be helpful to connect with people on another level, something other than just as a police officer,” said Sanchez. “I thought it might be a good way to let these disadvantaged people to see me as something other than as a member of law enforcement. And I think it could be helpful to me in my police work down the road.”