Volunteers in the St. Paul's Interfaith Hospitality Network

When does it start?

The Rochester Area program is planned to start late this year or early in 2004.

To date, many faith communities have signed up for the program, but a full compliment of 13 hosting organizations is needed before the program can start receiving guests; we’re half-way there already!

What happens to our church?

Four times a year, we will host a limited number of families (up to 14 people) in our church facility. We will use the Sunday School rooms for sleeping quarters and will serve food in the area outside the kitchen. Evening “family time” will be held in the basement SPY room. On Sunday morning, the rooms will be returned to their normal uses.

Who is involved from St. Paul’s?

The head coordinators of the program are Doug & Gayle Hitchcock who are responsible for managing the IHN program. They are responsible for recruiting volunteers to help support the program. They will manage the schedules of the volunteers and oversee the program during the four weeks per year we host guests.

How can I help?

We will need volunteers on every level to support this outreach program. The list shown below is a sampling of the types of job functions that are available each week we host families at St. Paul's. Additionally, there will be some volunteer positions available through the parent RAIHN organization (such as being a van driver for the Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network)

Function What you can do
Week Captain Oversee the entire weekly operation (pick a week; we'll do this four times a year). You will help the lead coordinators recruit volunteers for the week. It is estimated that there are up to 42 "person-shifts" per week that need to be filled. It is not always the case, but there are three "shifts" per day (evening, overnight, and morning/breakfast) and the guests are at the Day Center for the balance of their day.
Day Captain Manage all the volunteer activities for one day. Stay with the guests from their arrival before dinner, through the night, and see them off the next morning. You'll co-manage all the other volunteers that day and coordinate the meals being brought-in.
Daily Volunteer Help serve meals to the guest families; provide spiritual support as needed for our guests; keep a watchful eye on the assets of our church; clean up daily returning the "camp site" to a condition better than the way we fount it!
Meal Cook Typically, the evening meal (for up to 14 guests plus volunteers) is prepared by a St. Paul's volunteer off-site and is brought to the church to be served each evening. It is anticipated that you would only volunteer to do this for one night per weekly session and would not be required to repeat cooking a meal more than once.
Set-up & Clean-up Each week the we host families (4x per year) on that Sunday morning, we will need to return the church facilities at St. Paul's to a condition "better than we found the campsite!". Therefore, extra volunteers will be needed on Sunday mornings (early; approx. 7am-9am) to set-aside the bedding/cots for pickup by the RAIHN truck and to return the Sunday School rooms to their prior condition and to ensure that the other living areas (e.g. bathrooms) are spick & span for normal usages. There will also be opportunities for extra volunteers each Sunday afternoon in setting-up our "home" before the guests arrive.

What it Means to be a IHN Volunteer?

Four times a year, for a one-week session, we will open our doors to a small number of families that have been temporarily displaced from their homes.

On Sunday afternoon, the families arrive at St. Paul's where they will be greeted by the volunteers for that day. They will receive dinner, which is cooked by volunteers. After dinner, the guests can relax and enjoy social interaction with the volunteers from St. Paul's. Overnight sleeping will be accommodated in the Sunday School rooms.

Each morning during the week, the guests are treated to breakfast and they pack lunches for the day. The guests are then picked-up at St. Paul's by the RAIHN passenger van (run by the Rochester IHN) , which will take them to a Day Center. At the Day Center, the families receive counseling on job placement, home relocation, and the day center becomes their central point for mail, school busses, laundry, showers, etc.

Each evening, the RAIHN van brings the guests back from the Day Center to St. Paul's for dinner and sleeping.

At the end of the week, on Sunday morning, the guests will pack-up their belongings and the RAIHN van will take them to the next church. We will then return our own church facilities to their normal usages.