"Preach
     the Gospel
       always, and
    when necessary
    use words"
      - St Francis of Assisi -
Social Ministry
IHN-Alpha House
Family Shelter 
(June & October)

 
 
 
Thanks for the Shelter! 

Thank you for serving October 13-19, 2008, at IHN Alpha House Family Shelter.  It was a great week!   Between shopping, meal preparation, meal serving, childcare, custodial work, and general supervision, St. Francis volunteers provided vital assistance that helps keep IHN's funds focused on helping clients.    St. Francis volunteers came together to supply 10 meals and over 100 hours of companionship last week for 19 neighbors without homes.    

Special thanks to our coordinators: Al Zangrilli, Chris Kempton, &  Kate Miller.     And, thanks to the more than   35   volunteers who made this week possible:  Catherine Anderson, Jane Antosiak, Herb Black, Owen & Elaine Brady, Susanna Brown, Samuel & Nicole & Isabelle & Bill & Ehren Dirkson, Mary Beth Eagle, Michael Gatti, Marty Javornisky, Chris Kempton, Rosaleen Kirk, Jane Levy, Lizza Magbanua, Kate Miller, Chris Mollo, Rick Pense, Sarah Powers, Jill Ross, Nancy S. Fulcher, Cynthia Smigielski, Mark Ten Brink, Julie White, Mary Ellen White, Linda Wiseman, Chris Wyzlic, Charles & Patti Yonka, Al Zangrilli, & Rita Zyber.

 

 
Family Shelter at Alpha House for Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN).  The Alpha House day & night shelter facility is for about 25 people. IHN is a network of local congregations in Washtenaw County who provide volunteers to help with this shelter program at Alpha House.  St. Francis Parish is a member of the network that provides volunteers for a couple of weeks each year.   See the Volunteer Coordinators Task List below here on this page. 

Directions: Drive west on Jackson Rd., beteween Wagner Rd. & Zeeb Rd. ---it's on the right side, just West of the Ann Arbor Motor Mall, across from Jonathan Resturant.  Street Address:  4290 Jackson Road, Ann Arbor  MI  48103.
Alpha House for Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN); Phone 734-822-0220;    Website: www.alphahouse-ihn.org
Family Shelter
Volunteer Coordinators Task List

If you are looking for a short-term one-time commitment to serve our community, we need you.  Join St. Francis Parish in coordinating hospitality for homeless families for one week at the IHN-Alpha House Shelter Facility in Ann Arbor on Jackson Road. (For the actual shelter dates for St. Francis Parish, Click Here.)  Our St. Vincent Service Committee & the Chairperson offers support to the volunteer coordinators.  Contact the Parish Social Ministry Office,  .
 

Thanks to Our Past Coordinators:
2009 October:  ______(your name here?) 
2009 June:
2008 October:  Chris Kempton,  Kate Miller & Al Zangrilli;
2008 June: Chris Kempton,  Kate Miller & Al Zangrilli; 
2007 October: Mary Ellen White;
2007 June 4- 10, Mary Ellen White;
2006 October: Mary Ellen White, 
2006 April: Mary Ellen White;
2005 October: Mary Ellen White, Linda Matton, & Sara Uytingco;
2004 October: Linda Matton, Chris Kempton, & Allen Sherzer;
2003 October: ... Linda Matton, & Sara Uytingco, & Yvette Atkinson, ... ;
2002 October: ... Yvette Atkinson, & Linda Matton, ...;
2001 October: ... Yvette Atkinson, & Linda Matton, ...;

 

Volunteer Coordinators Task List

Before and during the shelter we have at least three volunteer shelter coordinators take responsibility for coordinating each one of these three areas: overnight hosts; weekend hosts; & meals.   (For the actual shelter dates for St. Francis Parish, Click Here.)

NOTES kept by the past coordinators are also found here.   Coordinators should begin one month prior to the shelter date with communications to persons who played a role in the past year at our shelter.    Essentially the coordinator role boils down to making lots of phone calls & emails to folks on our list of past volunteers, as well as, the most recent Time & Talent survey.   And then marking them down for scheduled slots during the week of the shelter.   If we are unable to fill all the slots from those lists we can ask the parish office for other leads.

Two weeks before the shelter, parish members will sign-up to volunteer for short simple tasks, like: spend a night, just be present at an early evening to socialize with our guests, or provide/prepare some food for supper.  To Sign-up Click Here. 

The coordinator keeps the volunteer list, (for their particular task area) up-to-date and communicates any special needs with the persons that signed-up. (The coordinator does not have to be present during the entire week.) 

During our Alpha House week, a coordinator or experienced volunteer will serve as the "Evening Host" each night. 

Divide the Alpha House volunteer call list into color-coded thirds.  (It would help to categorize the list by volunteer type: supper time, evening, overnighters).

The 3 shifts for each evening are described on page 6 of the Volunteer Handbook: 
www.alphahouse-ihn.org/pdfs/resources/Volunteer%20Handbook%202007.pdf

Weekend shifts are also available for Saturday & Sunday.  Weekend requirements are described on page 5 of the handbook.

Keeping the master calendar on paper isn't very sharable, so, on May 16, 2008, Chris Kempton, entered it into a Yahoo Calendar.  Use the link below if you're interested in keeping track of our volunteer shift calendar for IHN Alpha House. Only confirmed people are on this calendar:    (October 2008 =1224600807)
http://calendar.yahoo.com/YYY,4f9d4e/srt,0/chriskempton/?v=1&t=1212364800
Please take a look at that and let me know if any of the shifts you have collected are not represented correctly.  The MAIN volunteer coordinator will keep this calendar updated as we fill more shifts.

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When you shop at any stores (like: Gordon Food Service (GFS) and/or any other stores in preparation for this shelter,  submit the receipts to Scott Wright, Parish Social Ministry Office (734-821-2121), and you'll be reimbursed.  Also, you may charge to the parish account at GFS if you communicate first with the Social Ministry Office.     Especially at GFS PLEASE sign the charge with your name and "SHELTER" so that our business department knows what budget to pay the bill from.  GFS emails the bill to St. Francis office on the same day that you charge so it is very important that you sign the charge clearly that it is for the "SHELTER".

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St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Parish Social Ministry Office, 
2150 Frieze Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104