The Week 3 of WARM’s cold weather shelter was hosted this week by Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Each church puts their special touch on the guest’s visit. One such thing was small blessing bags on each bed when guests arrived on the first night of Westminster’s shelter week. We have volunteers that break down, move and set up the beds, distribute clean linen, blankets & pillows for the guests to make their bed on their own. Our linen & blankets are cleaned each week free of charge by Augusta Cleaners. Augusta Cleaners is a HUGE blessing to WARM and our guests.
WARM strives for a sense of stability for our guests, as knowing what to expect each day/week allows them a sense of normalcy, while dealing with the trauma of homelessness. (More info on homeless trauma here) One way we do this is providing a schedule of activities planned throughout the month. The image shown below was highlighted and posted by the door.
One thing Westminster does with guests is an art project. The church provided the materials and dedicated volunteers assisted with the creation of the paintings. Below you can see the last year’s creation (exhibited in the church social hall) and below that, the new creations made this year.
Westminster partners with many talented chefs to make sure the guests are fed delicious meals each evening, as well as a breakfast and sack lunch each day.
One special event during the week was caroling by Westminster’s Youth Group. They shared the spirit of Christmas! (You can see a video of them singing on our FB page)
In the very rare free time our Cold Weather Shelter guests have, Westminster made movies available. The guests really enjoyed that.
After all of that, there were other activities as well (AND CHRISTMAS COOKIES!). You can see more of what went on by watching this video on our Facebook page. If you like this post, you can also visit posts for Week 1 and Week 2.