38 Guests, 30 Volunteers, 11 Nights!
During February 17 through 21, once again our doors were open to greet those in our community who were experiencing homelessness. Once again, several volunteers from our church and other churches offered their time, talents, transportation, meals, and even air mattresses and cot pads to make our guest residents comfortable and to feel safe. As you can see by the photo, people enjoyed the opportunity to sit at a dinner table and enjoy a hot meal. Our special guest this time was the small dog named Justice.
Thanks to your generosity and of others:
38 guests, out of which 5 were women, were housed over the course of 3 weather events. The highest number sheltered in one night was 22. A total of 30 volunteers participated. You responded generously to the special request for help to place people in hotels, if needed. Total collected: $1,090. Because the "arctic freeze" weather was going to be more than the one night predicted, we opted to open the shelter and only use a hotel room for special needs. Any monies not used will be held for opening a center or utilizing hotel rooms, in the event we experience extreme heat this summer.
But wait, there's more!
Others from the community donated a total of $350 in January to help offset the expenses of operating a shelter.
We were interviewed by 4 TV stations, 1 radio station, and 2 newspapers.
As a result of our little church doing big things, we fielded a call from St. James Episcopal in Taylor, who wanted to know how to run a shelter, as they were going to try it based on our successes.
The whole experience was quite a collaborative, interfaith, community event.
Thanks to you all!
-Michelle Augustine
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