Room In the Inn (2012) — Please See Debbie Ferrell
Carmel has a wonderful opportunity for you to go on a mission trip and never leave the city. We will be hosting up to 12 to 13 home-less men, women or children (our "neighbors") right here in Ligon Hall starting December 5th,2011.
| Positions |
People |
| |
Needed |
| Bus Driver & Helper |
2
|
| Set Up |
3 to 4
|
| Dinner Cooks |
5 to 6
|
| Fellowship |
2 to 3
|
| Overnight |
2
|
| Breakfast Cooks |
2 to 3
|
| Clean Up |
2 to 3
|
We will provide transportation from Urban Ministry to Carmel and then back again, a delicious dinner and fellowship, a warm bed for the night, breakfast in the morning and a sack lunch for the next day. There are many tasks and even children ("Our Youth") can help. We need bus drivers, help setting up the beds, cooks, servers, people to eat and fellowship with the neighbors, people who spend the night, breakfast cooks, and clean-up crew. If this ministry mission touches your heart, we can use you! You can be the hands and feet of Jesus right here at the corner of Carmel Road and Sharon View.
There is a sign up area in the entrance to the Fellowship Hall.
The dates are:
-
December 5, 2011
- December 19, 2011
- January 2, 2012
- January 16, 2012
- February 6, 2012
- February 20, 2012
- March 5, 2012
- March 19, 2012
Please sign up today. We need your help! Contact Debbie Ferrell with any questions at 704-708-4561 or aldebf@windstream.net
Other Info About Urban Ministry:
Founded in 1994, the Urban Ministry Center is an interfaith organization that serves poor and homeless people with love, compassion and tangible help that comes in countless forms. Last year, for example, our Soup Kitchen served more than 106,000 lunches to poor men, women and children…and we offered yoga instruction to homeless men struggling with addiction. We offered the privacy of a bathroom, the relief of a hot shower, the dignity of clean laundry to thousands of people…and volunteer dental professionals brought smiles to hundreds. More than 16,000 nights’ lodging were offered through our Room in the Inn winter shelter program…and 12 chronically homeless people got the keys to their very own apartment. Our community garden grows organic vegetables for the Soup Kitchen…and creativity and self-respect thrive in the fertile ground of our ArtWorks program. An army of 10,000 regular, seasonal and one-time volunteers made it all happen. They are the heart and hands behind everything we do.
If you are new to the Urban Ministry Center, welcome. Thanks for visiting our website and we invite you to visit us in person too.
Urban Ministry Center (Location)
945 N. College St
Charlotte, NC 28206
Phone: 704-347-0278
Fax: 704-347-3570
Also see direct dial extensions on Staff page
Hours:
Monday through Friday
8:30 until 4:30 p.m.
Soup Kitchen Hours:
Lunch every day
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
History
The Urban Ministry Center opened its doors in December 1994 as a partnership of uptown congregations and businesses to address the needs of the poor and homeless with compassion and tangible help.
Founding partners include: Bank of America, First Union, Duke Power, Bell South, TransAmerica, Knight Foundation, Mecklenburg County and Uptown Development Corporation, St. Peter’s Episcopal, St. Peter’s Catholic, First United Methodist and First Presbyterian. Our original home was in the old train station building on North Tryon St. The Soup Kitchen founded by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in 1979 relocated to this building. In 2006, we expanded services and moved into our new building, located directly across from the old train station.
The Urban Ministry Center serves as a point of entry to services offered by a network of agencies that work closely to provide necessary opportunities for the homeless population. We are an interfaith agency drawing support and volunteers from more than 130 congregations.
The Urban Ministry Center is a registered 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit and is funded by donations from private individuals, congregations, corporations and foundations. We receive no United Way funding. All contributions are fully tax-deductible.
Our Mission
The Charlotte Urban Ministry Center is an interfaith organization dedicated to serving our homeless neighbors and helping to end homelessness. We do this by mobilizing our community, building relationships, and providing compassionate, empowering ministries.
Our Vision
To bring the community together to end homelessness – one life at a time.
Our Values
o Respect: We believe each life has dignity. We are all God’s children.
o Compassion: We show our compassion in our ministries of presence.
o Personal attention: We treat people as individuals with unique concerns.
o Empowerment: We assist our neighbors so they can move toward self-sufficiency.
o Hope: We believe that God doesn’t give up on us and we don’t give up on one another.
o Community: Our programs are designed to engage people and build trusting relationships.
o We understand that rich and poor have much to share with each other.
Whom We Serve
In the 2009-2010 season, Room in the Inn provided a total of 17,465 overnight accommodations to 1,437 different people. While many services at Urban Ministry Center are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, RITI accepts people into the program on the following priority basis:
- Women or men with children
- Women
- Senior men (age 60+) or men with a disability
- Men
How Room in the Inn Works
Participants queue up at the back door of the Urban Ministry Center around 4:00 p.m. for a carefully formatted intake and registration process. Each person is breathalyzed and must show state-issued identification or receive a waiver from our staff. Each person is entered into our database to help us determine who is using the program and how often. An off-duty police officer is onsite at all times.
Last year 2010, nearly 100 congregations and colleges partnered with us by taking in 12-14 homeless people on their assigned evening. On any given night, we have 10 to 15 host sites throughout Charlotte. These organizations pick up our neighbors and then take them back to the host facility for a hot meal and an evening of fellowship, movies, etc. In some cases, our neighbors can use telephones, showers and laundry facilities. The host group recruits volunteers who spend the night with their homeless neighbors, serve breakfast in the morning, and then drive the neighbors back to uptown Charlotte in the morning.
In the 2009-2010 season, an estimated 10,000 Room in the Inn volunteers throughout the community helped in some way: registering neighbors, driving, making dinner, serving dinner, chaperoning overnight, making sandwiches for lunch, or simply sharing a meal and conversation.
Writes one grateful neighbor: "For moments each night, if I am fortunate, I sleep not as homeless in the street, but with warmth and friendship, thanks to Room in the Inn. Somewhere during the evenings of friendly faces, piping hot showers, videos and jokes, laughs and sharing a smoke break, I was transformed from homeless to someone with a misfortune. I no longer view the world from ground level, where each may look down on me. I view the world from ground zero, where each may view my launch. I thank you, all who volunteer for this program.You have given me fortitude, I am sure that I am not alone in this.”
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Photo above: Homeless neighbors and members of St. Peter's Catholic Church share a meal.
Basic Services
All basic services are offered Monday through Friday unless noted on a first-come, first-served basis. Neighbors in need of assistance should be in line by 8:15 a.m. for morning services, by 1:15 p.m. for afternoon services.
- St. Peter’s Soup Kitchen (lunch served 11:15 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. every day of the year)
- Showers, restrooms, laundry facilities
- Local & long distance calls and fax service
- Nurse (M-W-F a.m.) and medical referrals
- Dental van (2nd Friday of the month)
- Prescription co-pays
- AIDS testing (Thursday a.m.)
- Food pantry & clothing referrals
- Room in the Inn winter shelter program (December - March)
- Mail, paycheck and prescription pickup
- Transportation (jobs, medical appointments)
- Individual counseling for employment, housing, healthcare and transportation needs
- Assistance filing for disability and food stamps
- Assistance in obtaining state-issue identification, Social Security cards, birth certificates, school records and other essential documentation and paperwork
- Veteran's Administration case worker (Monday a.m.)
- Mecklenburg County Housing Specialist (satellite office at UMC for people who have some source of income)
Life-changing Programs
The Need
Through the Point In Time census conducted in January 2010, we estimate there are 7000 homeless men, women, and children in Mecklenburg County. In February 2010, the Urban Ministry Center staff – in partnership with a dozen local agencies and over 110 community volunteers - conducted a “Vulnerability Index,” to identify and count the chronically homeless. That figure is 807, or about 10 percent. These are the folks who have been homeless for more than a year, or at least four times in the past three years and have a disability. 388 of these individuals had at least one vulnerability factor which places them at higher risk for dying.
Over the years we have come to know this population well. They cycle in and out of jail cells, hospital rooms, emergency rooms and shelters. Despite the fact that they consume 50 percent of community resources, their outcomes are rarely good.
And we have come to know that while their needs are complex, there is a solution. It is a philosophy called Housing First, which recognizes that everyone has a fundamental right to housing, no matter what their mental health condition or physical disability or addiction may be. The idea is get people into housing first, and then work on the issues that need attention in order to help the person stay housed. It makes sense – who among us could tackle sobriety while sleeping under a bridge? It makes economic sense too – research has proven that the cost of permanent housing and services is far less than the current cycle of jails, ERs, and shelter beds.
Housing First
Homelessness in Times Square has been virtually eliminated using a Housing First approach. Common Ground, a national organization whose mission is to end homelessness, identified and housed the most vulnerable, reducing homelessness in the 20 blocks surrounding Times Square by 87% over a two-year period. If this can be accomplished in New York City, it can and will be done in Charlotte. Our goal is not to manage chronic homelessness here, it is to solve the problem by taking the Housing First concept and applying it to create permanent supportive housing with on-site social workers and other supports necessary to lead stable, productive lives.
And so in 2008 we began our efforts, drawing upon the experiences of cities such as New York, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Denver who have gone before us. We launched a pilot program called Homeless to Homes, and the first 12 residents have proven that with support, we can help restore lives, conserve resources and create a stronger community.
Going Forward
Opening in 2011, Moore Place is an 85-unit apartment building designed with the best supportive housing standards. The complex will include case managers and 24-hour security. Homeless to Homes will remain an ongoing program of the Urban Ministry Center as we explore and expand opportunities to create the additional supportive housing needed in this community.