St. Paul's Episcopal Church Winter Emergency Shelter

St. Paul’s houses the only winter shelter in this area. Run by House of Hope’s ACCESS program, the shelter houses 15 men and women each night from Nov. 1 through May 31. The shelter opens at 7 PM and closes at 7 AM.  Women are given priority, then it’s “first come first served” after that. Dinner and a light breakfast are provided. There are many ways you can participate in this ministry:

• You can offer to cook an evening meal for the shelter. The local soup kitchen provides dinner Monday through Saturday and the members of the church do so on Sunday. Let us know via email if you would like to take a turn for supper or bring something by for breakfast, or drop off sack lunches that folks can take with them as they leave.
• Your financial donations are always welcome. We hold several fundraisers each year to provide any needed items (new cots, blankets, emergency food, etc.) but we do not do any direct fundraising to cover our costs (heat, electricity).
• We collect warm clothes, especially jackets, coats, hats, gloves, as well as socks and boots. It’s amazing how quickly homeless men and women go through socks, and many don’t have decent boots to face our New England winters. You can drop of any of those things anytime the office is open.