Inn From The Cold

Inn From The Cold is a registered Society which offers:
  • Temporary overnight shelter to the homeless
  • Priority to families and women
  • Safe, quiet shelters for up to fifteen people, staffed by volunteers in church halls
  • Non-judgmental, respectful and compassionate treatment
  • Referrals to:
    - counseling
    - other shelters and housing programs
    - food and clothing banks
  • Security deposit program for families
  • Transitional housing (being developed)

If you would like to volunteer for Central’s Inn From the Cold program, please contact Brady Winters at 816-1061 or Liz Graves at the church office

Effective September 15, 2008, the Inn from the Cold Society will be opening their new family shelter at the Center 110 building on 10 Ave. SW. As a result of this new shelter coming on line, our Inn from the Cold program here at Central is being reduced by half. We will hold Inn’s here on the first and fourth Saturday’s of each month, rather than our usual weekly Inn. The new shelter will need volunteers, so if you are interested please call the Inn for more information on how to become a volunteer at the shelter.

A Night at the Inn
Here is a look at how our dedicated teams of volunteers organize and host an Inn.
A typical night at the Inn starts at around 4:30 p.m. when volunteers arrive at the church to set up for the evening. This includes setting up cots, partitions, tables and chairs. At the same time, dinner preparations are well underway in the church kitchen.

At the same time, guest registration is taking place at the Inn from the Cold office downtown. During this process, those who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or are known to be unduly disruptive or suffering from severe mental illness are screened from the guest list and referred to other agencies.

The priority is to ensure that all families receive beds first, followed by single women and then men.

At approximately 5:45 p.m. the Inn from the Cold bus picks up the guests from the downtown Inn office.

The guests arrive at their designated Inn around 6:30 p.m. and are treated to a hot meal, prepared by the church volunteers. After dinner, there may be a video, games or a chance to visit with others. This is an important opportunity for our volunteers to demonstrate non-judgmental, unconditional caring. For many of our homeless guests, they are not used to being treated as dignified, valued human beings. Our volunteers don't preach to our guests - they listen to them.

Normally, the lights go out about 10:00 p.m. Two of our volunteers spend the night at the church with the guests. Breakfast is at 7:00 a.m. At 7:30 the clean-up crew arrives and guests prepare to leave with their bag lunch.

Visit the Inn From The Cold Society website.


For more information on Inn From The Cold Phone: 263-8384, Fax 263-9067, or view the brochure:
Inn from the Cold
Information Brochure

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