Room In The Inn Needs You

Room In The Inn is Nashville's second largest provider of overnight shelter during the winter months.  Each night from November through March, an average of 180 guests find shelter in local houses of worship.

Cathedral is the largest participant, welcoming approximately 40 working men each Tuesday evening to the Fleming Center.  Here they are given a hot meal and a warm place to stay for the night.  They are able to shower, get new socks and undergarments, and get breakfast and a sack lunch the next day.

Room In The Inn creates an opportunity for those who have more material things in life to recognize they are no different than people who are homeless.  It is an opportunity to care for the less fortunate and for guests and hosts to experience God in a new way.

We always welcome volunteers and this year we especially need to fill the following positions:

Innkeeper Coordinator:  this person is responsible for scheduling 2 innkeepers to stay overnight each week with our guests.  We have a list of innkeepers and are recruiting new ones as well.

Innkeepers:  each Tuesday, we need 2 men to stay overnight with our guests in the Fleming Center.  As an Innkeeper, you need to arrive by 7:30 on Tuesday evening and stay until approximately 6:00 on Wednesday morning.  This is an ideal father/teenage son opportunity!

Hospitality Captain:  this position is suitable for an individual or couple and involves arriving at the Fleming Center by 5:30 on Tuesday to work with volunteers to set up for the evening and stay until dinner is over, at about 8:00.  Set up involves blowing up mattresses, making beds, setting tables, etc.

Laundry Coordinator:  this person makes sure the sheets and towels are picked up and returned each week, by scheduling 3 volunteers per week to get it done.

Please consider getting involved!  The need is great and the rewards are fantastic. Call Colleen McPherson at 269.4436 or Jenny Clough at 262-9285 for more information.

Room In the Inn is beginning its twenty-second year of serving and lending a helping hand to the homeless population of Nashville. Father Charles Strobel initiated the program with four churches in 1986. The Cathedral of the Incarnation has been participating since the program began and is proud to continue it with over 147 other Nashville churches this year! Many programs have been added to the downtown campus, the Campus for Human Development, including Alcohol and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, showers, primary health care, job counseling, clothing, basic education (including GED courses), and support for mental health services. Local churches continue to provide critical shelter and meals during the winter months.

For those of you who wonder if one person can make a difference in the lives of the homeless, take a look at the cumulative volunteer statistics for The Room In The Inn 2004-2005.

• 28,560 Bed Spaces Provided

• 113,056 Volunteer Hours

• 69,324 Meals

• 21,125 Snacks

• 12,799 Showers

If services provided by Room In The Inn during one winter had been purchased, they would have cost about one million dollars.

As usual, our parishioners have been generous with their time and money to help our guests. The Room In the Inn program at the Cathedral is always looking for volunteers to serve as overnight Innkeepers, providers for dinners, breakfasts and lunches as well as people to help with transportation and laundry. If you are interested sharing your talents and services, please contact Colleen McPherson at (615) 269-4436.

Contributions
Donations can be made to assist the Room In the Inn program. Checks should be made payable to the Cathedral of the Incarnation. Please specify that your donation is for the Room In the Inn program and deliver it to the Cathedral office or place it in the collection basket.