Please prayerfully consider joining us for a portion of the week as we work in mission together to provide for those less fortunate than ourselves.
While at SPUMC, our guests are:
- Served three meals a day (lunches are packed and sent with our guests for the day),
- Given a warm place to sleep, with fresh sheets and towels,
- Provided transportation to and from the church each day,
- Offered organized free time where they can play games, watch movies, or enjoy Christian-based entertainment,
- Encouraged to participate in Bible studies, employment networking, and AA meetings
- Given the opportunity for a warm shower, a fresh haircut, and to have their clothes laundered.
The program also includes hosts from our church who stay at the shelter throughout the evening and night, a nurse on site in the evenings, and a team to set up and break down the shelter at the beginning and end of the week. There are many opportunities for involvement!
Volunteer Descriptions (click on each line below for details)
Evening Host (4:30pm - 10:30pm) - Carolyn Heim, Coordinator
- Monitor smoking area, bathrooms and TV/activity room.
- Guests are not allowed past partitions or in rooms along hallways.
- Be familiar with breathalyzer machine.
- Assist with taking guests to showers between 7 PM and 9 PM.
- Assist the Shower Trailer Coordinator with closing down the shower trailer for the evening.
- After dinner put out snacks for the guests in Fellowship Hall.
- Put away perishable snacks and make sure water and coffee is available on the snack table in Fellowship Hall before lights out.
- Turn out lights in Fellowship Hall at 10:00 pm.
- Be available to Carolyn Heim (Site Coordinator) for anything she needs.
- You are encouraged to interact with the guests as time permits.
- Dinner is available as your schedule permits.
- Any issues or concerns should be directed to Pam / Rob.
- In case of fire or other emergency in building direct guests to the nearest exit to the parking lot, gather in a group by the dumpsters, and using guest admit list check to see that all guests are accounted for.
Overnight Host (10:30pm - 6:30am) - Carolyn Heim, Coordinator
- Monitor smoking area, bathrooms and TV/activity room.
- Guests are not allowed past partitions or in rooms along hallways.
- Be familiar with breathalyzer machine.
- Give guests their prescription medicine bag or OTC medicine as requested.
- Hosts can take turns resting (one at a time).
- Wake guests at 6:00 am (7:00 am on Saturday and 7:00 am on Sunday); turn on lights in Fellowship Hall.
- You are encouraged to interact with the guests as time permits.
- Breakfast is available as your schedule permits.
- Any issues or concerns should be directed to Pam / Rob.
- In case of fire or other emergency in building direct guests to the nearest exit to the parking lot, gather in a group by the dumpsters, and using guest admit list check to see that all guests are accounted for.
Day Host (Sat / Sun 8:00am - 12:30pm and 12:30pm - 4:30pm) - Carolyn Heim, Coordinator
- Monitor smoking area, bathrooms and TV/activity room.
- Put partitions back in place after the last church service is finished.
- Guests are not allowed past partitions or in rooms along hallways.
- Be familiar with breathalyzer machine.
- Assist with taking guests to showers if needed.
- Replace snacks in Fellowship Hall as needed.
- Be available to Carolyn Heim (Site Coordinator) for anything she needs.
- Help guests that are interested to find church services and classes.
- You are encouraged to interact with the guests as time permits.
- Lunch is available as your schedule permits.
- Any issues or concerns should be directed to Pam / Rob.
- In case of fire or other emergency in building direct guests to the nearest exit to the parking lot, gather in a group by the dumpsters, and using guest admit list check to see that all guests are accounted for.
Transportation / Drivers - Reid Reininger, Coordinator
Transportation On-Call Drivers (5-11pm M-F & 7a-11pm Sat-Sun) Various numbers of drivers each day, on-call, shown below for rides to/from local pharmacy, hospital(non-emergency), med clinics, dental appointments, jobs, Light Rail, job interviews; if needed to showers at Community Center and pickup to/from AHOH (Arundel House of Hope) on Sat-Sun.
- Below is general breakout of transportation requirements each day.
- Monday: 3 Drivers on-call from 5-11pm
- Tuesday: 3 Drivers on-call from 5-11pm (7:30pm-9:30pm, if needed, for Shower Shuttles).
- Wednesday: 3 Drivers on-call from 5-11pm to include 7:30pm-9:30pm for Dental Appointment Shuttles.
- Thursday: 3 Drivers on-call from 5-11pm (7:30pm-9:30pm, if needed, for Shower Shuttles).
- Friday: 2 Drivers on-call from 5-11pm
- Saturday: 3 Drivers for Med Clinic shuttles from 7am-9am; and 3 Drivers on-call from 9am-11pm to include 3:30pm shuttle from Arundel House of Hope to SPUMC
- Sunday: 2 Drivers for shuttle to AHOH at 8am and 2 drivers for shuttle from AHOH to SPUMC at 3:30pm. 2 Drivers on-call from 9am-11pm.
Set up / Cleanup - Reid Reininger, Coordinator
Setup Crew (Mon, 8am-11am) 4 volunteers. Duties: unload guest cots and baggage from transfer truck; setup fellowship hall & rooms 301 & 302, involving tables, chairs, cots setup, and positioning guest luggage at assigned cot; move/setup lawn furniture from center courtyard to smoking area.
Cleanup Crew (Mon after guests depart 11, 7am-11am) 4 volunteers. Duties: load cots & baggage onto transfer truck; take down tables & chairs in fellowship hall & reset furniture in rooms 301 & 302. Move lawn furniture from smoking area back to center courtyard; help move stored items to closet in room 203.
Breakfast Helpers - Ann Harrison, Coordinator
Help prepare and cleanup for breakfast (breakfast time varies from weekdays to weekend - see signup sheet for daily times)
Points of contact:
- Tuesday - Ann Harrison
- Wednesday - Michelle Mohr
- Thursday - Ann Harrison
- Friday - Carole Parker
- Saturday - Carole Parker
- Sunday - Dixie Catlett
- Monday - Ann Harrison
Lunch Helpers (Weekday Bag Lunches) - Diane Dodson, Coordinator
We need help Monday - Thursday 3:30-4:30 to make sandwiches for the following day. Meet in the choir room.
Bag Lunch Donations - Diane Dodson, Coordinator
Each weekday morning we send guests out with a bag lunch. To go with the sandwich, we need about 200 snack size assorted chips and fruit cups. Please bring all donations to Fellowship Hall by the Sunday before guests arive.
Lunch Helpers (Weekend On-Site) - Cathy Pette, Coordinator
Help prepare and serve lunch in Fellowship Hall on Saturday and Sunday.
Dinner Helpers - Ann Harrison, Coordinator
Several church groups have signed up to coordinate dinners. Please sign up if you are a member of the group, or if you would like to join the group in preparing dinner.
- Monday - United Methodist Women
- Tuesday - Adults Loving Life
- Wednesday - Young Adult Group
- Thursday - Choir
- Friday - MOMs
- Saturday - Volunteers In Mission
- Sunday - All Are Welcome
Snack Donations - Shirley Young, Coordinator
Provide snacks and 2-liter bottles of soda for the evenings. In addition, 2 volunteers are needed to replenish supplies on Saturday.
Needed donations include:
- Box of 24 (or more) variety pack of Potato Chips and/or Doritos (small individual bags)
- 20 individual serving, shelf stable Pudding
- 3-6 packs of individual serving Apple Sauce
- 2-38oz jar Peanuts
- Large package of Oreo cookies (larger the package the better)
- Large box of Rice Krispies Treats
- 3 Large boxs of cookies
- 56 oz bag of M&Ms
- 3 pounds of Hershey Kisses
- 3 bags of Assorted Mini Candy Bars
- 2 packages of Lance PB Crackers
- 2 packages of Assorted Crackers
- 4-2 Liter bottles of Coke/Pepsi
- 4-2 Liter bottles of Root Beer
- 4-2 Liter bottles of Orange Soda
- 4-2 Liter bottles of Sprite
- 4-2 Liter bottles of Mountain Dew
- 4-2 Liter bottles of Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi
- Case of bottled water
- Case of cup-of-soup
Please see signup sheet under the first Sunday for quantities needed. All donations should be brought to the church by the Sunday before guests arive.
Activities - Paula Ellwood, Coordinator
Help with evening activities (Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday) or Sunday afternoon activity.
Laundry Helpers - Edie Neuberger and Lynette Cloughley, Coordinators
During the week we will once again be hosting 35-45 Men and Woman at our church. During their stay with us we will be offering to assist them with washing their clothes. We are looking for volunteers to help us in this area. There are several ways in which you can help. Please sign up for the area you would like to assist in.
On Tuesday, the guests will be given the opportunity to leave a bag of clothes at the church to have a volunteer pick up and wash and dry their clothes for them. You can take their laundry to the Laundromat or to your own home to wash and dry the laundry. It is completely up to you. The bags of laundry can be picked up at the church on Tuesday 2/6 evening between the hours of 5:30 pm and 9:00 pm. The bags of laundry must be returned back to the church on Wednesday evening by 4:30 pm (at the latest). Each bag will be marked with the guest's name. You will sign out for the number of bags you would like to take. We are looking for at least-20-25 people to help in this area.
On Saturday, the guests will be provided transportation to a Laundromat in the Glen Burnie area to wash their own clothes. On this day we are looking for 1 person that would be willing to assist with the distribution of coin (provided by the church) and help in laundry of the towels and wash clothes that they will use during the week for showers.
On Monday, our guests will depart and we need at least 12-16 people that would be willing to wash the sheets, towels and pillow cases that we provide for our guests. These items remain the property of the church. This is a big task to get everything clean and ready to package up for the following year. If this is an area you can help in we would ask that you pick up a load on Monday by 10:00 AM and return it to the church no later than Thursday at 4:00 PM.
If you are able to help in one or more of these areas, please sign up on the sheet below. The simple task of helping our guest to have clean clothes makes a huge difference in their daily life. Please consider this ministry.Guest Goodies Shopping Help - Tina Robinson, Coordinator
This year, we are changing the way we offer our guests some extra support — in the past we have purchased one or two clothing items they requested, but this year we are going to supply each guest with a small "Goodie Bag" filled with a couple of gift cards and consumable items like candy bars, gum or other small items.
Nurses - Bette MacWilliams and Cheryl McNerney, Coordinators
Help care for the medical needs of our guests during the evening hours and on weekends.
Signups
If you have any issues signing up, you may contact Sue Springett directly at SPUMCWR@gmail.com, or 410-693-3630 (cell).
Click here for the online signup sheet. When you sign up, you will be asked to provide your email address and phone number (in some cases there is additional information requested by the coordinator). Only your name will be public - all other information will be used by the coordinators. You will receive an email reminder seven days ahead of the activity for which you volunteered.
To avoid multiple signups for the same slots, please do not use the online signup sheet between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. This will allow individuals to volunteer via the hard copy sheets in Fellowship Hall on Sunday mornings.