South Oakland Shelter was housed at Huntington Woods Lutheran Church from the evening of Sunday, December 30, 2007 through the morning of Sunday, January 6th, 2008.
The SOS is an agency that assists homeless people in south Oakland County. SOS staff work with homeless individuals and provide counseling and assistance in getting jobs and housing. They oversee the operation of the shelter, which moves from one church or synagogue to another each week of the year, from Sunday to Sunday. Individuals can stay in the SOS program for a period of 90 days, which allows them to get on their feet and save enough money to put a security deposit and rent on an apartment or other type of housing. We at Huntington Woods Lutheran Church consider ourselves very blessed in many ways, including by having this opportunity to serve the SOS. In the midst of the hectic and overly commercialized holiday season, we welcome this opportunity to put into practice our Christian values. Children and adults, our volunteers all experience the truth of the saying that it is more blessed to give than to receive. We invite our neighbors to join us in this rewarding ministry as we open our hearts and our church home to those who are less fortunate. What is involved in hosting SOS? Every evening we pick up our guests from the SOS office in Royal Oak on Main north of 11 Mile Road and bring them to our church. We provide them with a hot dinner, friendly conversation, TV-time and a place to sleep. In the morning, we provide breakfast, a sack lunch and a ride to work. Hosting SOS is a huge undertaking and HWLC can always use some extra help from the community in terms of volunteers and money. We have opportunities for service, whether you have a little bit of time, or a whole night that you can offer to be an overnight host or hostess. You can work behind the scenes, making sack lunches, or come spend an evening and get to know some of the guests on a one-on-one basis. They appreciate being treated as individuals with human dignity, and we find we learn a lot from them when we take the time to get to know them as people. |
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| Volunteers needed (examples from the past shelter week we hosted): | |
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Set up on Sunday |
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Drivers in the mornings and evenings |
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Cooks |
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Overnight hosts and hostesses |
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Clean-up in the mornings |
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Sack lunch preparation |
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Laundry |
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Take down on the following Sunday |
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Monetary donations are appreciated to help defray the costs of: Food and beverages, diapers, toiletries, cleaning supplies, laundromat expenses. For more information, or to volunteer, call Huntington Woods Lutheran Church at (248) 542-3007. |
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