idiom/word help

[NEGROWPLEASE]

i need help with an idiom.

the context:
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I am saying that i volunteer downtown, handing out food to the homeless.
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idiom/word: something saying that the conditions were really bad, and i expereinced them and interacted with the people and conditions. "down to earth"?
onelook didnt work

thanks again

[jno]

'on the street'? grass-roots'? 'at ground level' or 'at street level'?

[alfiebrady]

'Got your hands dirty'?

[Kingaroo]

in the trenches

on the front lines