Winter Outreach is a grassroots volunteer organization that provides life-saving support to unhoused individuals in the City of Saint Louis on deadly cold winter nights. Volunteer teams drive through the city those cold nights - offering blankets and other warming items and providing transportation to shelters whenever possible. Because of the shortage of shelter space, Winter Outreach has partnered with community organizations, such as MCCGSL, to provide emergency shelters.
Our church organizes and manages a shelter at St Paul UCC, 3510 Giles. Our shelter location will be open on Monday and Tuesday nights when the temperature is expected to be 20 degrees or lower without precipitation (or 25 and below with precipitation).
Please consider volunteering for one of these Winter Outreach teams. Help is needed to:
Set Up/Clean Up Team – sanitize the shelter area, restroom, cots, and food area. Put out sheets/blankets/toiletries, coffee, tea and food serving items and prepare the shelter area to receive guests. Times are to be determined, but will be during the day and likely in the mornings. We also need volunteers to take/pick up laundry to/from the laundry facility.
Greeters – Welcome guests to the shelter, sign guests in, orient them to the site and shelter rules, monitor shelter safety, socialize and offer hospitality. Shifts are from 5:30 pm to 10pm.
Innkeepers – Sleep overnight with the guests, oversee lights-out; morning wake up and good-byes. Shifts are from 9pm to 8am.
Food Teams - Prepare and provide warm food (and/or act as food servers) for our guests and volunteers (enough to feed approximately 22 people). Deliver food NO LATER than 6pm on nights the shelter is open. WE NEED A FOOD TEAM LEADER, TO SCHEDULE VOLUNTEERS AND ENSURE THAT FOOD IS PROVIDED ON EACH OF OUR OPEN NIGHTS. This year we will also provide a warm breakfast item in the morning, so we need volunteers to prepare breakfast items as well as dinners. (Breakfast items can be dropped off the night before, and should be easy to reheat and carry – such as breakfast burritos or breakfast sandwiches.)
You can also help by:
Providing toiletries (small “hotel” size), coffee, snacks, sugar, creamer, juice (the kind that doesn’t have to be refrigerated
Providing new men’s boxers and women’s underwear in medium, large and very large sizes; warm socks; thermal underwear in large and very large sizes
Providing warm hats and warm gloves
Providing heavy blankets and large, heavy coats
Providing financial support
Being a Winter Outreach volunteer who drives through St Louis providing cold weather items and transportation to shelters
To volunteer, or learn more, call or text Nicholas Doyle at 314-346-2581, or email to Nicholasemorydoyle@gmail.com. You may also contact Deborah Sheperis at 415 630 3418, or sheperis@sbglobal.net..