PACEM Host Congregation

Overview

As a Host Congregation, we will house and feed about a dozen homeless women in our Fellowship Hall for two consecutive weeks. We provide dinner, breakfast, snack, and an evening activity each day. The guests arrive about 6:00pm by van and leave the next morning by 7:00am. PACEM provides one staff person who will stay overnight with the guests; we provide 2 hosts to stay each night. The cots and linens are provided by PACEM. The cots stay in the Fellowship Hall, undisturbed, for the two weeks, and we provide a locked closet for guests to store belongings. We are responsible for laundering linens once a week and delivering them and the cots to the next congregation.

Volunteers

Assuming that each volunteer team takes two nights (the same day once a week, for two weeks), we need about 100 volunteers to be involved. A Partner Congregation may provide up to half of the volunteers needed. The volunteer division could look like this:

• Lead Coordinator
• Facility Coordinator

- Cots & linens (4)
- Clean-up (14)
• Food Coordinator

- shoppers (14)
- cooks (20-25)
- server/setup (14)
• Activities Coordinator

- volunteers (14)
• Overnight Coordinator

- hosts (14)

Financial Commitment

PACEM asks that each Host Congregation contribute to the operating and staffing costs to run the program. Congregations typically give $3,000 to $5,000 per year. Some congregations keep this in their budget; others take a few special offerings throughout the year.

The cost of providing meals and laundering linens could be between $1,000 and $1,500. This cost would be shared with a Partner Congregation and volunteers may choose to donate portions of the meal that they prepare. There is also be the hidden cost of electricity for the two weeks.

To learn more about PACEM visit www.pacemshelter.org or contact the church office at 434-978-4357 or by e-mail .