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2008 Dates
Sunday, February 17 to Sunday February 24
Sunday, March 23 to Sunday, March 30
Sunday, September 28 to Sunday, October 5
Overnight hosts
for upcoming weeks
Social hosts for upcoming
weeks
Van
driver schedule for March 23-30
Weekdays
Van driver arrives at White Plains by 6:30AM to get
guests to the Day Center by 7:00AM
Van driver arrives at White Plains by 5:00PM to pick-up
guests at Day Center by 5:30PM
Dinner hosts arrive at White Plains by 5:45PM to set-up
for dinner
Dinner is served between 6:00 and 6:15PM
Evening hosts arrive by 7:00PM
Overnight hosts arrive by 8:30PM
Doors locked for the night at 10:00PM
Lights out at 11:00PM
Wake-up at 6:00AM
Everyone leaves by 6:45AM
Saturdays and Sundays
The only schedule changes may be the times when the van should arrive
at the Day Center in the mornings. Please confirm these times with
the Transportation Coordinator or Primary Coordinator.
Primary Coordinator and Overnight Host Coordinator
Patti Crane Phone Number 467-4230 or email cranepatti@aol.com
Primary Co-coordinator and Evening/ Social Host Coordinator
Cheryl Phillips Phone Number 851-9336 or email cherylphil@bellsouth.net
Meal Host Coordinator and Laundry Coordinator
Janice Hunsinger Phone Number 481-4585 or email jvhunsinger@nc.rr.com
Set-up and Set-down Coordinator
Eric Routh Phone Number 678-1133 or email erouth@mindspring.com
Supply Coordinator
Alicia Murray Phone Number 481-0771 or email lishag@nc.rr.com
Van Driver Coordinator
Jerry Letchworth Phone Number 467-0353 or email cletchworth@nc.rr.com
Why should we be concerned about homelessness?
Poverty and homelessness in the US is a problem that affects
all of us.
Nationally, over 12% of our population lives below
the poverty line. That is 1 in 9 adults and 1 in 6 children.
A poor child in the US is more likely to live in a working family
than to be on government assistance, and more likely to live in
a rural or suburban area than an inner city. A minimum-wage worker
cannot afford fair market rent anywhere in the United States.
Locally, over 19,500 people live below the poverty
line with more than 2000 people homeless. Families make up
56% of the total homeless population, the fastest rising segment
of the homeless population. Over 380 of the total homeless
persons in our region are children with an average age of 9 years
old. Therefore this problem is widespread and includes many persons
and families of different types and situations.
WIHN is here to help motivated homeless families who have
lost housing, have jobs and need help to get back on their feet.
I want to know more about:
How WIHN is organized
The Day Center
How to volunteer
Volunteer Job Guidelines and Procedures
How to donate to WIHN
How to apply to the program for help
How to plan an informational meeting for my group
Safe Sanctuaries and WIHN
The National Interfaith
Hospitality Network organization
WIHN is a private, non-profit agency for Wake County. Professional
staff provide families with daily, individual case management at
a Day Center on Method Road. Each evening, two churches provide
shelter, meals and transportation to up to five families each, serving
up to ten families every night in the program. Each church commits
to shelter families a week at a time, approximately once a quarter.
There are 32 host and 16 support congregations in the Wake Network.
White Plains has a support congregation- St Pauls Episcopal Church
which assists us with volunteers and supplies.
While the families are in the program, the Day Center serves as
the participants' or guests' address, home phone and central location
for day-to-day activities. The children catch the school buses here
and adults can access the public bus system as well. Computer access,
workspace, laundry facilities, lockers for belongings, showers and
lounges are available for guest use. Bedroom for sick or nightshift
workers can be used as needed.
The Day Center staff interview potential families provide case management
and counseling. Staff help guests to connect with the appropriate
Social Service agencies for housing, medical care, etc. Congregations
are supported with training, scheduling, and meetings with staff.
Staff also secure funding, maintain the Day Center facility and
promote awareness of the needs of the homeless in the community.
There is a WIHN board which oversees the entire program and is responsible
for Day Center staff.
The Day Center is located at Method Road in Raleigh off of Western
BLVD at the edge of the NC State campus. The mailing address is
903 Method Road Raleigh, NC 27606. The phone number is 832-6024.
There are many ways to help make WIHN at White Plains a success
for any age volunteer. There are activities that can be done at
anytime as well as during our host week by groups or individuals.
I want to know how to help as a:
Preschool age volunteer
School age volunteer
Teen volunteer
Adult volunteer
We can pray. One of the most important things to do for WIHN
is to pray. God needs to know that we need His help and that success
in this program can only come through Him. We want to know His will
for the volunteers, guests and staff of the WIHN program and we
will only find this through prayer. Please ask your families to
include WIHN in your prayers before, during and after WIHN weeks.
See Our Host Dates.
We can help make blank welcome cards for WIHN guest families.
We are giving the families a welcome card on arrival to invite them
to join us in church services and other appropriate events during
the week. What we need is a half-page sized card that says
Welcome to White Plains on the outside and is blank
on the inside. We will make an insert that will be attached
to the inside of the card that has all of the church information.
It may be decorated any way you wish and should fit in a blank envelope
to be labeled with the family's name to make it a personal invitation.
(Blank cards with envelopes can be purchased in bulk at craft stores
like A.C. Moore.) You can put finished cards in the Missions mailbox
across from the bathrooms in the office wing of the church or contact
a coordinator for other arrangements.
We can pray or make blank welcome cards for WIHN guest families.
Please see the Preschool age volunteer
section for instructions.
We can help set-up the classrooms for guest arrival. This
is done around 2PM on the Sunday the guests come to the church.
Foldaway beds are placed in classrooms and covered with mattress
covers and sheets. Privacy curtains are hung in the windows and
door windows covered. Clocks and tissues are placed in each family
room. The middle room downstairs in the CLC is straightened up and
arranged into a family room space. A kitchen area is set-up with
serving and seating tables, appliances placed in the kitchen and
lunch preparation area assembled. This process can be completed
quickly the more volunteers we have to help us. Please contact
a coordinator to confirm the exact time for set-up and let us
know you are coming. This process is reversed the Sunday the guests
leave prior to the Sunday school hour. Please arrive around 7AM
to help.
We can help with evening/ social hosting as a group. This
activity is most successfully completed by small groups. We try
to provide the adult guests a chance to relax in the evenings by
involving the guests' children in activities from 7:00PM to 8:30PM.
The kids in the program usually have a wide age range and usually
include both preschoolers and teens. Your group can plan 2 or 3
activities, such as coloring, building with blocks, or playing a
group game to involve the young guest children. Your group should
have at least 2 adults to help in case any problems arise, like
a scrapped knee or bathroom visits. We have supplies including toys
and craft material available for your use. You can also use the
playground area or gym if it is available; just remember that if
you offer more than one activity at a time that there is one adult
with each group. (One adult with the part of the group that stays
with the kids that want to keep coloring while the others go upstairs
to play basketball.) We have readable and printable instructions
or Guidelines
for Evening/ Social Hosts for complete instructions. Also feel
free to use these Contacts at White Plains for
WIHN for answers to your questions.
We can pray or make blank welcome cards for WIHN guest families.
Please see the Preschool age volunteer
section for instructions.
We can help set-up classrooms for guest arrival or help with
evening/ social hosting as a group. Please see the School
age volunteer section for instructions.
We can help at the Day Center by sorting donated supplies,
such as clothes and dishes, etc. The Day Center staff can arrange
a tour of the facilities and give instructions on what needs to
be done. The Day Center receives these items all the time but does
not have the staff to keep them sorted. The Day Center is not open
at night, so all Day Center volunteering is done during the day.
However, it is open on the weekends. You will need to contact Day
Center staff to schedule your volunteer time at 832- 6024.
We can help at the Day Center by doing yard work or other maintenance
job. The Day Center cannot afford to pay a yard service and
needs volunteers to complete these and other maintenance jobs. They
also need other facility work, such as hanging shelves or other
work that may qualify as a scouting project. (The lockers the families
use for personal possessions were built as an Eagle Scout project.)
Contact the Day Center to find out current needs at 832-6024.
We can work along side our children and youth as an individual,
family, or group.
We can pray or make blank welcome cards for WIHN guest families.
Please see the Preschool age volunteer
section for instructions.
We can help set-up classrooms for guest arrival or help with
evening/ social hosting as a group. Please see the School
age volunteer section for instructions.
We can also help by hosting overnight, driving a van for
guests to the Day Center in the morning, driving a van to the church
in the evening, or hosting a meal. For more details on these opportunities,
please see the instructions or guidelines
listed here.
We can help by taking laundry and returning it to the church
the following week. Contact the Laundry coordinator here. We
can also use people to bring supplies to the church during the
week as needed. Contact the Supply Coordinator here.
We can help at the Day Center by sorting donated supplies or
by doing yard work or other maintenance job. Please see the
Teen volunteer section for instructions. The
Day Center also uses volunteers to answer phones and other minor
reception work. Please call the Day Center to receive Day Center
training for this at 832-6024.
Here are instructions or guidelines on the volunteer jobs. Please
read and see if you could help us. The files can be read online
or printed for your convenience.
Guidelines
for meal hosts
Guidelines for
evening/ social hosts
Guidelines
for overnight hosts
Van
driver guidelines for evening trip to White Plains
Van
driver guidelines for morning trip to the Day Center
Here are the guidelines for guests given to them on arrival to
White Plains and other information volunteers need to know. Please
read them if you volunteer. A copy of them is also available in
the logbook where you sign-in in the Female Host Room 127 downstairs
in the CLC as well.
General hosting
policies and procedures
White Plains
UMC Guest Guidelines
WIHN does accept donations of household items and furniture. Large
items are stored in storage sheds off site. You will need to contact
the Day Center to arrange the details at 832-6024. The Day Center
will take other items including clothes when they have space. Please
call beforehand.
WIHN is always in need of monetary donations. In addition to staffing,
building maintenance, van maintenance, rollaway bed repair and utilities,
the Day Center also has separate funds for guests' needs for bus
passes, limited car maintenance assistance and interview clothes.
Please contact the Day Center for further instructions at 832-6024.
WIHN can house:
- couples with children
- single parents
- married couples without children
- single pregnant women
WIHN does work on an interview basis. If you are in need of shelter
please call the Program Manager to check on availability and to
schedule an intake appointment. All adult family members must be
present for the interview and must have identification.
If your family is accepted into WIHN's shelter program after an
on site interview, we will then schedule a time for you to move
into our program. This interview process typically takes at least
1-2 days.
WIHN offers temporary housing for a period of 6-8 weeks while families
strive to regain their independence. Housing is provided during
daytime hours at a 'Day Center' and during the evening and overnight
hours at one of many Wake County congregational facilities that
are involved with WIHN.
WIHN provides:
- 24 hour shelter with private sleep rooms for each family
- 3 meals per day
- transportation to and from the day center and host facilities
- case management and referral
- voice mail for each family and telephone access
- access to computers and printers
- laundry facilities and detergent at no charge
- toiletries, diapers, and other day to day items
- evening educational classes on such topics as budgeting and
finance, parenting, and health
WIHN requires that each family:
- meet with staff once each week to complete goal planning
- attend the evening educational program each week
- complete an assigned chore daily
- be employed full time or be looking for stable employment
- have a TB test
- be actively searching for housing and working toward goals
- save the majority of their income toward housing
To apply for admission to WIHN call the Day Center at 832-6024
to schedule an interview.
You want to help with WIHN but you would feel better if you got
more instruction. We can make a program that is tailored to your
group's age and needs. From young children to adult, we will come
to you and present a program that can include information on WIHN,
make a card craft instruction, information on poverty, advanced
training in guest relations, etc. We can do a 30 minute presentation
or up to a ninety minute meeting with discussion. Just contact a
coordinator at least a month in advance for planning.
Safe Sanctuaries is a policy document all United Methodist churches
have been asked to create for the protection of all persons in the
church against abuse. This document has guidelines for volunteers
and leaders of programs which have contact with children and vulnerable
adults.
The White Plains coordinators are working with Ministry Staff to
determine how this policy will be implemented in WIHN. We do not
anticipate any changes in volunteer policy at this time.
Click here to read more
about White Plains Safe Sanctuaries Policy.
National Interfaith Hospitality Network organization
Link www.nihn.org
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