A partnership
with Carpenter's Shelter of Alexandria, Virginia
|
|
|
|
Blessed
Sacrament Shelter The Blessed Sacrament Shelter will operate in the multi-purpose room (across from Quinn Hall) every Saturday night from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Each night will have one volunteer and a Carpenter's Shelter paid staffer. Both the Volunteer and staffer should arrive by 6:50 p.m. Any chairs that are left out should be stacked and a welcoming table should be set up right inside the door. The staffer will then get the sign-in sheet and guest contracts from the storage space. We will use a new sign-in sheet for each night. Please print your name on the top as well as the date. Guests will arrive in a group, sent over by Carpenter's Shelter in taxis. Carpenter's Shelter will give one of the guests an official list of names of those they are sending over to prevent walk-in's coming in with the group. When they arrive, please make sure they feel welcome. Smile! Welcome them to our community. The guests will first need to form a line at the welcome table before they do anything else. For each guest the volunteers should do the following: 1. Check their name against the list sent from Carpenter's Shelter 2. Sign their names to the sign-in sheet (the purpose of this is for tracking and historical record). 3. Have the guests sign the Guest Contract. The purpose of the contract is to set the ground-rules and expectations. The contracts are only active for that night -- so every guest needs to sign the contract each night they visit. In the morning, the volunteers can dispose of the contracts. Blessed Sacrament will accept no walk-ins. If someone comes to BSCC needing shelter, the volunteers should call a taxi and send them to Carpenter's Shelter. Carpenter's Shelter's address is: 930 North Henry Street Alexandria, VA 22314 They should then call Carpenter's Shelter to let them know: (703) 548-7500 After each guest signs in, they may get a sleeping bag and mat from the storage area. Guests are NOT allowed to leave the multi-purpose room. If they get caught wandering around the church, the Carpenter's Shelter staffer will take their name and they will never be sent back to Blessed Sacrament. Guests will be let out for one supervised smoking break from 9:00 to 9:15. They must stay in the prayer garden during the smoking break. (Please make sure they do not drop their butts on the ground.) Never is smoking permitted in the church building. Volunteers are forbidden from giving money to guests. This also goes for free rides in the morning, etc. Guests are not alowed to use the shower in the bathroom. Guests are not alowed to use the pay phone outside the multi-purpose room. Ten o'clock is lights-out. All guests must be settled by then. In the event of any trouble (which is verrrrrrry unlikely), do not get worked up. The paid staffer will handle the situation. If for some reason the staffer has stepped out, you may wish to give a gentle reminder that if they continue, they will lose all shelter priviliges in Alexandria for the rest of the winter. If this doen't work, call 911. There is a police station about two blocks from Blessed Sacrament so there should be a quick response time. Any activity at all should be noted on the back of the sign-in sheet (including things as minor as someone trying to smoke in the bathroom). The Carpenter's Shelter staffer will arrange for taxis to be to the church by 6:00 a.m. All guests must be out of the room by six (if not, please log it on the back of the sign-in sheet). Before guests leave, they must put their sleeping bag and mat away. Guests are responsible for cleaning the room and bathroom.
|
