Grace and Peace Winter Shelter
A Typical Evening
6:00 p.m.: Each night, a staff person, an overnight volunteer, and an evening volunteer arrive at the Shelter. In the next 30 minutes, they read the log book for information about the previous night's happenings, replenish supplies, spot clean the bathrooms, and generally prepare for the guests.
6:30 p.m.: the first guests are met at the front door. If it is a full house, and it usually is, there are 16 of them. They settle in. Some begin to do laundry. Others converse, shower, use the phone, or just rest on their beds.
| 7:00 p.m.:A volunteer meal provider brings dinner sometime before 7 p.m. It is served at 7:15 or so. A hearty, healthy meal makes the women content and able to rest. |
| 8:00 p.m.: After dinner, dishes are washed, laundry finished, card or board games are played. Conversation and reading continue. |
| 10:00 p.m.: The evening volunteers leave by this time, often earlier. Some guests go to sleep as early as 8 p.m. Others stay awake until lights out at 10:30 p.m. The overnight volunteer and staff person sleep in the shelter area near the guests. |
| 5:00 a.m.: The staff person and overnight volunteer wake up all the guests, setting out coffee and a light, healthy breakfast. |
| 6:00 a.m.: The guests leave. They receive two bus passes each morning--one to get to their day's destination, and one to return to the shelter. The staff and volunteer finish cleanup for a few minutes and begin their own daily activities. |
| On Sunday mornings, wake-up is not until 7 a.m. Breakfast teams from a variety of churches are invited to come at 7 to cook a hot, delicious meal for the guests. These teams help provide a "bridge" from the normal shelter day to the Sunday School hour. Guests are invited to stay for Sunday School at 9:15 and Worship at 10:30. We hope they will feel welcomed into our community! |
"...Share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter. Then your light will break forth like the dawn..." (Isaiah 58:7) |