It gets quite cold in a Maryland winter, and the thought of being outside overnight is harrowing.

Starting decades ago, churches in our community banded together to help provide a space for homeless in the winter months to avoid the dangerous overnight conditions, supported by volunteers from their congregations and in spaces the churches had. Called “Winter Haven”, this program has served hundreds over the years, and is now being facilitated at the Laurel Multiservice Center under the name “Laurel Winter Shelter” – BUT, it still relies exclusively on caring people in our community stepping forward to volunteer for evening check-in (7:30 - 10 p.m.) and/or overnight (10 p.m. to 8 a.m.).

Having done shifts at Winter Haven in the past, I can tell you, the lost sleep is hard - but it is truly worthwhile when compared to being able to provide a warm space folks can sleep for the night. There’s no special skills or training you need, food is already being taken care of separately, it’s really just each night a small band of people are needed to ensure we can keep this caring tradition going here in Laurel.

Please consider if there’s a night (or two) that you might spare between Jan 5 and Mar 31, and shoot an email to “lwsboard@groups.io” where Phillip Ott and the team at the Laurel non-profit Taking Care of Our Neighbors, Inc. will welcome you as a much-needed helping hand to join with.

Thank you!