The Temporary Emergency Overnight Shelter Accommodations has secured a lease for a shelter in Jacksonville, but are in need of volunteers and donations to open by the end of the month.
Alan Bradish, the Chaplain for the Jacksonville Police Department, hopes the shelter will be a place where diversity is welcomed: “We’re looking to serve men and women and children and we do have very good [space] at the 948 N. Main property for that large of a group [and] that diverse of a group, so things are coming together, but I still need that volunteer.”
The shelter is in need of volunteers to monitor the overnight shift: “Definitely, we’re looking for volunteers. The biggest area that we need to cover right now is the overnight supervisor volunteer positions. The ones from 6PM to 1AM and from 1AM to 8AM. And the 6 to 1 would have a little more activity with overnight guests because basically lights out wouldn’t be till 9PM, so there would be about 3 hours of potential interactivity. The 1AM shift, however, would be mostly monitoring sleeping guest because wake-up time would not be till 6:30AM then out the door at 8AM.”
Overnight volunteers will be in pairs of two: one female and one male and will undergo training to make sure everyone is comfortable and protected. Additional volunteers will be needed for cleaning, laundry, and check-in each day.
The shelter is also in need of carpet scraps, an additional dryer, and ten 8 ft. tables. A cleaning day will be held in the future to prepare the building for occupants with the time and date to be determined. If interested in volunteering, please contact Bradish by phone at (217) 719-9358 or by email at jpdchaplain@gmail.com.