Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Warming shelter getting ready for winter

The Springfield Warming Shelter is fast approaching our sixth season of operation. In that brief time period, the shelter has served 166 individuals who were in need of a warm place to sleep during the cold winter months in southern Vermont.

The Warming Shelter collaborates with local churches and agencies including SEVCA, HCRS, Springfield Medical Care Systems Community Health Team, Springfield Supported Housing, Springfield Family Center, Springfield Police Department, Vermont Agency for Human Services, and Vermont Department of Economic Services. All guests staying at the shelter were given the opportunity to work with any of these organizations that might be able to help them improve their health and well being.

The eight-bed shelter is open every night from Nov. 15 through April 15. For the 2017-2018 season, the shelter was at capacity 6 percent of the time. One hundred sixty-six different adults were housed over the past five seasons. Approximately 30 percent of the guests were able to obtain stable housing with the aid of local social service partners. Meals were provided by several members of our local churches and from other citizens. All guests were offered access to the Springfield Family Center during the day. All guests were offered support from various local social service organizations. During the 2017-2018 shelter season, there were over 70 volunteers from the community who help staff the shelter by donating 3,408 hours.

This is where your warming shelter needs additional community support. The Springfield Warming Shelter fills a need not only in Springfield but in the surrounding communities. The shelter is staffed with two volunteers from 6:30 p.m. to 1230 a.m. and 12:30 to 6:30 a.m. every day during the season. This equates to 120 shifts per month. Volunteers may sign up for shifts on a recurring weekly, every other week, or monthly basis. Other volunteers fill in as a need exists. However, without volunteers, the shelter is not able to continue to meet these important need within our communities.

Volunteers receive an orientation, and orientation sessions will be available throughout the season. Initially new volunteer orientation is scheduled for Oct. 15 and 22 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Volunteers only need to attend one session. Orientation will be held at the North Springfield Baptist Church where the warming shelter is located.

If you want additional information or would like to help for at least six hours a month, please call the shelter at 888-264-3001, by email at svtwsc@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/springfieldwarmingshelter.



1 comment :

  1. Didn't even know we had this resource. Great!

    ReplyDelete


Please keep your comments polite and on-topic. No profanity

R E C E N T . . . C O M M E N T S

Springfield Vermont News is an ongoing zero-income volunteer hyperlocal news gathering project. No paid advertising is accepted on this site but any Springfield business willing to place a link to this news blog on their site will be considered for a free ad here. Businesses, organizations and individuals may submit write-ups and photos about any positive happenings here in Springfield that they are associated with and would be deemed newsworthy. Email the Editor at ed44vt@gmail.com.

Privacy statement: This blog does not share personal information with third parties nor do we store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies. You can turn off the use of cookies at anytime by changing your specific browser settings. We are not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on January 1, 2017. If you have any questions feel free to contact Springfield Vermont News directly here: ed44vt@gmail.com

Pageviews past week

---

Sign by Danasoft - For Backgrounds and Layouts