Jane Seidel remembers the moment she realized winter shelters made a real difference in our community.
It was 6 p.m., and the doors to St. Andrew Lutheran Church had just opened with smiling volunteers helping to register people.
“I was looking around and realized I was the very first person who ever actually spoke to them that day,” said Seidel, an organizer for the church’s winter shelter.
Winter shelters for people living outside help them survive. In November, various faith congregations and nonprofits in Clark County banded together to expand the number of emergency shelter beds this winter. But they’re having trouble recruiting enough volunteers.
“On Christmas Day, we have nobody. That’s unusual for us. It feels kind of weird to say that,” Seidel said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time at St. Andrew, and it’s unusual for us to have no one.”
The Winter Hospitality Overflow shelters at St. Andrew in east Vancouver and St. Paul Lutheran Church downtown are open every night until the end of March — a feat that requires people power. Other churches (Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Living Hope Church, ReFuel Washougal and River City Church) offer other winter night lodging.
Seidel said volunteers serve meals, clean and help people find resources. The overnight shelters go beyond offering people a warm and safe location as the weather begins to get colder and wetter. The shelters also offer a stepping stone toward new beginnings.
“It’s a first step. … In a lot of these places, they will be connected to services,” she said. “They’re put on the path to getting housing. We have our case managers, our workforce dedicated to addressing people’s barriers to housing. And unless we get volunteers, we can’t do those things.”
Last year, 52 families sought shelter at St. Andrew Lutheran Church during the winter season.
“They have time, and it is quiet, and it’s not cold, not wet and they have food,” Seidel said. “So they have time to think about, ‘How am I going to strategize?’ And they have somebody to work with. All those things help those steps to get into permanent shelter.”
During the winter, people living outside have a much higher risk than the general population of developing hypothermia or frostbite due to exposure. Sometimes, the outcome is fatal.
“It’s a life or death situation,” said Brian Norris, outreach pastor for Living Hope Church.
Living Hope Church operates the Live Love Outreach shelter, which is only open during severe weather alerts, that is, when temperatures drop below 32 degrees. Norris said the shelter has no problem finding daytime volunteers, but overnight volunteers are sparse.
In November, during the most recent severe weather alert, the church’s shelter wasn’t able to open due to a lack of trained volunteers for the night shift.
Norris said if you’re retired or a night owl, the shelter could use your help. He said the night team provides comfort and safety for the guests and the shelter.
“It is one of the most important things that volunteers bring,” Seidel said. “Just that human contact and a person looking at you and saying, ‘You matter. We are here for you.’”
Seidel encourages interested community members to look at places near them that need volunteers this holiday season.
“There are other places where you can make the same difference,” Seidel said.
