Nearly four years ago, Trisha Hunter formed a grassroots homeless outreach organization focused on giving toiletries and other nonperishable items to individuals with no permanent address.

With that experience under the banner of Junior Chamber (JC) International behind her, Hunter incorporated Warriors for the Homeless Inc. in April.

The JC project, which Hunter said was launched in Des Moines and spearheaded in Omaha, was intended to get basic necessities into the hands of needy people.

“It was very successful,” Hunter said. “We did it a couple of years, and I wanted to take that from a project level into an actual nonprofit. I wanted to be able to give people that tax exemption for their donations as well as do more with it than just be under another organization.”

In addition to providing homeless men and women with bathroom supplies such as soap, shampoo, razors and deodorant, Hunter said Warriors for the Homeless helps connect its clients with area health-care providers, educational resources and housing opportunities.

Hunter said the idea was born in 2007 as she and her husband stockpiled a number of toiletry items while they drove around the Midwest performing Web-related freelance work and running a company.

Following a divorce, the now 40-year-old entrepreneur said she quickly learned where to find the resources needed to survive.

“I’ve been told by the homeless kids that they feel like they can trust me,” she said. “They know I’ve been homeless before; I’ve shared my story with them. I really care.”

Hunter operates in a shared space at 1300 Locust St. that also houses The Center – a community organization that serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Des Moines – to meet the needs of the disenfranchised.

She is now collecting donations of backpacks that she plans to fill with toiletries and nonperishable foods before partnering with organizations such as Joppa Outreach Inc. and delivering the items to homeless camps.

“I’m a warrior,” she said. “I’m fighting on their behalf; I’m helping them do the things that they need to do.”