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Good Samaritan is a member church of the Interfaith Shelter Network. The Network’s rotational shelter provides lodging and other resources to homeless individuals and families and enables them to move toward self-sufficiency. Jim and Jill Lawrence coordinate Good Samaritan's two week commitment and schedule volunteer hosts to spend the night and provide meals for the guests. Approximately 50 volunteers participate annually in this program. Contact Jim or Jill Lawrence for additional information.
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http://www.interfaithshelter.org/index.html
The pictures below are from setting up Roetter Hall for the Interfaith Shelter we hosted in March/April '08.
Outreach/Interfaith Shelter reflections:
Completely supportive Rector, Business Manager and Administrative Assistant…Secondary dryer vents that challenge our thinking …A little girl that needs so to be acknowledged…
 Putting up butcher paper as "walls" |
Addictions that take over one’s life and eventually destroy all relationships…People who have conquered their addictions, rebuild their lives and feel it is their mission to help others overcome theirs…Healthy ways to escape when we need to…
 Building the room dividers for privacy |
Families and all the wonderful and crazy ways they function…So many people whom care and give even when it hurts…Souls that get lost and struggle to find their way, and struggle, and struggle, and struggle…
 Erecting more privacy dividers |
Gifted people who use their time, talents, and energy to re-create buildings that become Sanctuaries to those in need…The many blessings and challenges of becoming a Dorm Mother and Father…Sons who scrub and wash crusty baking dishes without being asked…An ecumenical week of celebration and caring for those in need…
 Vacuuming |
A family of sisters that communicate, care and share…Volunteers who give up their “cozy” beds at home and spend one night (or two) on an air mattress in Roetter Hall…Honeys who daily keep up with the bookkeeping of being Interfaith coordinators and let their honeys do the other “stuff” they CAN do…
 Talking about towels |
Cardiologists who take on cooking, delivering, and serving dinner for 16 people, even when their sweetheart is out of town and food preparation is a new adventure…Guests who know how to work the System and take advantage…Cuddly puppies who dole out more effective Rx than most…Untreated mental illness and the devastation it causes…Hosts who, finding out in advance that there is a five-year-old sweetie as a guest, bring along a bright pink feather boa as a gift…A generous parishioner who purchases a beautiful pink Easter dress for our little guest…
 In the Kitchen! |
A wonderfully-giving Jewish couple who bring Easter Dinner so we can relax and celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord…Delicious dinners arriving nightly (with NO duplication in 22 nights!)…A Kitchen Committee that planned and designed an amazing space that functions with ease…All the perfectly placed sinks…Improvised showers that work beautifully, even when we thought they might not…Feeling protective of the space and privacy of our guests…an incredibly caring community of Christians who went out of their way to support the ministry of Interfaith Shelter…
-- Jill Lawrence
Interfaith Shelter Parish Report:
This was our first time hosting (and during Holy Week, too!) Interfaith in our newly redesigned Roetter Hall and frankly, every aspect of our responsibilities to our homeless guests went beautifully. (Michael and Audrey Rant did an outstanding job of coordinating Interfaith Shelter here at Good Sam in the Spring of 1998-we had to walk our guests across the street after dinner every evening to shower at the JCC!)
Our parish can thank once again Janet Herrman, Jeff Theiss and the rest of the design and building committee for creating a facility that functioned well. We had between 8 and 11 guests in Roetter Hall for a total of 22 nights. (The longest we have been responsible before was 14 nights.) During the third week 8 different local parishes assisted us and overall 74 volunteers came together to accomplish what was needed: Shopping for cleaning, breakfast & lunch supplies, preparing and delivering delicious dinners, spending the night in the shelter as a host, helping with set-up/break-down of the privacy cubicles used. We borrowed the materials for the cubicles from St. David’s Episcopal and the bedding, etc., was borrowed from La Jolla Presbyterian. Dorothy Snook shared some extra bedding, too.
Very special thanks to Kathleen Ide who allowed us to use a portion of her Godly Play classroom so that our guests could have a place to relax and watch movies in the evening. Another thank you to Arthur Kassebaum who supplied Rabbit Ears so a few local stations could be viewed on the TV as well.
As you might imagine our costs for hosting were higher than in previous years, but well within the monies budgeted for. During our weeks: one woman was moved into a wonderful residential program downtown, one mother and daughter moved into an apartment with other family members and regretfully, one couple was asked to leave the shelter by their caseworker for “not following their plan.”
Again, the flexibility of our parish and those of the Newman Center was amazing and greatly appreciated.
This was our first time hosting (and during Holy Week, too!) Interfaith in our newly redesigned Roetter Hall and frankly, every aspect of our responsibilities to our homeless guests went beautifully. (Michael and Audrey Rant did an outstanding job of coordinating Interfaith Shelter here at Good Sam in the Spring of 1998-we had to walk our guests across the street after dinner every evening to shower at the JCC!)
Our parish can thank once again Janet Herrman, Jeff Theiss and the rest of the design and building committee for creating a facility that functioned well. We had between 8 and 11 guests in Roetter Hall for a total of 22 nights. (The longest we have been responsible before was 14 nights.) During the third week 8 different local parishes assisted us and overall 74 volunteers came together to accomplish what was needed: Shopping for cleaning, breakfast & lunch supplies, preparing and delivering delicious dinners, spending the night in the shelter as a host, helping with set-up/break-down of the privacy cubicles used. We borrowed the materials for the cubicles from St. David’s Episcopal and the bedding, etc., was borrowed from La Jolla Presbyterian. Dorothy Snook shared some extra bedding, too.
Very special thanks to Kathleen Ide who allowed us to use a portion of her Godly Play classroom so that our guests could have a place to relax and watch movies in the evening. Another thank you to Arthur Kassebaum who supplied Rabbit Ears so a few local stations could be viewed on the TV as well.
As you might imagine our costs for hosting were higher than in previous years, but well within the monies budgeted for. During our weeks: one woman was moved into a wonderful residential program downtown, one mother and daughter moved into an apartment with other family members and regretfully, one couple was asked to leave the shelter by their caseworker for “not following their plan.”
Again, the flexibility of our parish and those of the Newman Center was amazing and greatly appreciated.
Blessings, Jim & Jill Lawrence