MAKING ROOM
Housing program for women stretches the souls of volunteers.
By Erwin Gunnells
R
oom in the Inn began in 1985, when the priest at one parish in Nashville opened the doors of the church to a few individuals in the parking lot to sleep for the night. Thirty-four years later, Room in the Inn is a national, even international, project--a workable and working program, caring for homeless people using church facilities and volunteers. The specifics vary from vicinity to vicinity. In some towns the congregations take only men, in some they do their own screening, giving breathalyzer tests before accepting guests. In some communities the program has developed into a separate staff and shelter run by the churches. Our Room in the Inn (RITI) is one branch of the nonprofit Homeward Bound, which offers
a variety of services to help folks get off the streets into homes. Rather than an emergency shelter, they call it a ”shelter-to-home program” in which congregations provide overnight lodging and food for a dozen prescreened women, women who are actively participating insupport services such as job education and drug treatment, medical care and behavior skills sessions, all leading to being housed and staying there. Homeward Bound finds suitable housing when the women are ready and continues to support them until they are firmly on their feet. RITI retention rate for staying housed is about 92 percent. The overall rate for Homeward Bound clients is about 89 percent—quite good. But why the difference? “I believe in my heart the difference is that for all those
months instead of sleeping in shelters they are surrounded by people who care,” says Sharon Blythe, director of Buncombe County Room in the Inn. In our county about 40 faith groups participate in the program,
Room in the Inn Needs Your Help Prepare meals Provide transportation Sleep overnight (this is a high need to keep this vital ministry sustainable)
Page 3 trinity commons
