It’s 8:30 p.m. and the line outside begins to lengthen. At 8:45 p.m. the staff invites first-timers inside to complete the necessary paperwork. By 9 p.m. there’s a steady stream of men and women checking in.
And so begins another night when those who have no homes and live on the streets find safety and some comfort inside our Food Center. Volunteers---most homeless themselves---have already spread out the men’s mats and blankets on the Dining Room floor. A separate room has similarly been set up for the women’s “dormitory”. By 10:30 p.m. everyone’s settled down and it’s lights out.
Our Night Shelter, open 365 nights a year, was launched in 2006 to provide mats for 25 guests; by the following year the number had increased to 40 and at present the Shelter is almost at capacity with 58 to 60 mats occupied every night.
Clients are allowed to sleep in the Shelter 21 consecutive nights after which they must make room for new arrivals. After 14 nights “out” they may be readmitted if they haven’t found more permanent alternatives. This rotational system assures people they have a “reserved” mat and blanket for at least three weeks as long as they abide by our Shelter’s stringent “Ten Commandments of Service”.
The two-man staff is on watch throughout the night and at 5 a.m. they wake the clients, many of whom are day laborers. However, before leaving they must clean and stack their mats and deliver their blankets to be washed by daytime volunteers.
A respite from the harsh realities of sleeping on the unforgiving concrete sidewalks of the city, that’s our Night Shelter. |
