Our mission promises to bring the community together to end homelessness, so we thought it might be fun to share some of the top ways YOU make a difference each year!
11,382 Showers
Something as simple as a shower can be a gift of renewal or restored dignity for someone experiencing homelessness. Our shower desk is staffed by a volunteer and stocked with donations so that each person has the supplies needed (towel, washcloth, travel size toiletries, and many extras). Four individual showers are available Monday – Friday in both morning and afternoon services, as well as Saturday mornings.
- 16,625 Bednights
Room In The Inn is founded in community engagement, relying on different hosts each night to provide emergency shelter during the coldest months, December 1 – March 31. Innkeeper Ashley Brown coordinates 120+ churches, schools, and YMCA’s to provide transportation, a warm, safe place to sleep, and meals for more than 1,500 individuals experiencing homelessness. An estimated 5,000 volunteers are helping each season at those host sites—it’s an amazing collaboration!
- 29,000 Volunteer Hours
With a mission statement that includes engaging the community, it’s no surprise that volunteer hours are included in this list. The bulk of these hours are donated during the week with volunteers doing everything from preparing and serving lunch or drinks, driving a van to DMV, counselors helping neighbors get ID or fill a prescription, helping neighbors place a phone call, sorting mail for 1,000 neighbors, checking in people for the dental van, playing bingo at Moore Place, cooking out with Scattered Site tenants, and much more.
98,101 Lunches
Our Soup Kitchen is open seven days a week, 11:15am-12:15pm. Our 40-gallon soup pot and regular volunteer groups guarantees there will be something warm and nutritious every day. Tuesdays and Fridays bring variety with a hot plate lunch on those days. Most soup kitchen shifts are covered by regular volunteer groups, many who have been coming for over 20 years! We rely on new volunteers/donors to provide drinks each day, and there are usually 5-7 days each month that are missing a drink group, especially Mondays (10:45am-12:15pm). Can you help us fill the gaps? Learn more here.
- 200,000+ Sandwiches
Operation Sandwich is amazing because ANYONE can do it! The Soup Kitchen uses about 800 sandwiches each day and often the individually wrapped gems are taken ‘to go’ for those who may not have a reliable source for food later in the day. Without these donated sandwiches, the kitchen would have a much larger expense and neighbors would have even fewer options for food security.
If you have helped us with any of these, we thank you! The impacts of your time, talent and treasure can be seen in our Annual Report, where there are even more examples of community engagement . If you are looking for a way to engage, we hope you will reach out today!
