Sanctuary

Last winter, I volunteered at a homeless shelter. I know I wrote about it then (at least I'm pretty sure I did--I'm not going to go back and look), but it was a heartbreaking experience. You see, our shelter is only open during the winter months. It was really windy and cold last night, and there was no shelter available for the homeless. Ours does not open until November 1. I got an email yesterday about the opening of the shelter and a request for volunteers, and I signed up to be a regular volunteer this year. I can't walk through the cold each morning without thinking of the people I met last year, many of whom are still sleeping out in that cold. Today, I got another email from the same woman requesting our presence at a memorial service on Friday for one of the shelter's regulars who died last week. The email mentioned that a total of five of the people who stayed at the shelter have died since the shelter closed in March. It's sickening that we do not have a year round shelter in this city that does not require a statement of Christian faith.