 Winter Relief is a faith-based ministry in A.A. County in which a number of local churches take turns housing homeless people during the winter months to avoid the risk of having them sleep outside and potentially freeze to death.
Who sponsors this ministry?
The Arundel House of Hope (AHOH) is an ecumenical organization that provides emergency, transitional, permanent affordable housing and support services for the poor and homeless in Anne Arundel County. It is committed to providing all services in a professional, dignified, supportive and respectful manner. Our Lady of the Fields and the Church of the Holy Apostles operate a Winter Relief shelter as two of more than forty churches under the sponsorship of the AHOH.
How did it get started?
About twenty years ago, a few local churches in Anne Arundel County met to discuss their concerns about homeless people dying outside in the cold during the winter months. They decided to form a shelter program in which each church would house and provide hospitality to a number of homeless guests for a period of one week. From those modest beginnings, the Winter Relief program has grown to well over forty churches opening their doors for homeless guests from October to April of each year. The Arundel House of Hope is a non-profit organization in Glen Burnie, MD that sponsors this ministry and provides a full range of other services to people who are homeless. How does Winter Relief work?
The AHOH develops the schedule, provides the training, registers the homeless guests, provides the sleeping cots, and oversees the program. Each church turns their facility into a shelter for a one week period (Monday to Monday). The shelters run from October to April of each year and most week there are two churches running a shelter in parallel. The churches are responsible for picking up the guests in Glen Burnie each day at 4:30 pmand returning them to Glen Burnie sometime after 7 am in the morning. The churches are also responsible for feeding the guests dinner, for providing a warm sleeping area (where the cots are placed), providing hospitality, having two monitors on hand to provide oversight, providing a hot breakfast, and giving brown bag lunches to the guests. Highlights of this year's shelter at OLF? Our shelter will run from Jan 2-9, 2012. We expect to house about 60 homeless men and women during that week. Once again, volunteers from the Church of the Apostles will be partnering with folks from OLF in all aspects of this ministry. What is an example of the typical daily routine at the shelter? • 4:15pm Bus picks up guests at AHOH • 4:15 – Evening monitors arrive at OLF and make coffee • 4:30 – Guests arrive. Cooks arrive. Registration. • 4:30-5:30 – Volunteers help guests with cots, sheets/blankets, medicines, and other needs • 6 pm – Dinner served • 6:30 pm - Announcements • 7-9:30 pm – Hospitality, clothing, showers, sewing, medicines, games, entertainment. Guests driven to a middle school for showers on Tuesday and Thursday evening. • 10 pm – Lights dimmed in hall. Most guests go to bed. • 10:30 pm – Night monitors arrive • 5am – Night monitors make coffee and wake up guests who have to work early • 5:15-5:30 am – Cooks arrive • 6 am – Wake up all guests, help with meds and special needs. Lunches put by door • 6:20 am – Serve hot breakfast • 7 am – Bus transports guests to Glen Burnie. Remind guests to take their lunches. Guests dropped off at the laundromat on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Volunteers are there to assist them and pay for the cost of using the washers and dryers. • 8-10 am Volunteers clean kitchen, hall and bathrooms How can you help? Each year, we need over 300 volunteers to help in all aspect of this ministry. Volunteers:
To volunteer:
Someone will get back to you to confirm your commitment. We are so grateful for your support. Volunteer Sign Ups: · Breakfast supplies · Lunch supplies · Lunch Making · Dinner supplies · Daily transportation · Shower transportation · Night Monitors |
|
Ministries > Service >
Winter Relief |