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Warming Center
Since
the Winter of 2003/2004, Utica UMC has been a member of a
body of ecumenical churches that support and are the Macomb
County Warming Center. The Macomb County Warming Center
program runs from November through March, the peak winter
months in Michigan. It serves the homeless in Macomb County
and provides nightly shelter and food to those adults, male
and female, who would otherwise not eat and would sleep in
doorways, under trucks, under bridges or freeway overpasses
or even in dumpsters to seek respite from the cold and
weather. The member churches each run the program for a
full week, starting on Sunday evening, using the church’s
own facility and the efforts and contributions of
volunteers. Guests are invited in at approximately 8:30
p.m. and leave the church at 7:00 a.m. the next morning.
Our typical experience at Utica UMC has been to serve 60-65
guests per night.
Our Mission
The
mission of the Warming Center program is simple and direct
to insure safety and consistency for the children of God we
serve, and the volunteers, as well. It is:
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To provide our guests a
warm and safe place to spend the night and get their
rest.
Emphasis is placed on
safety. There are strict rules of conduct guests must obey
and security procedures that volunteers are trained in and
that are followed explicitly to insure that all guests and
volunteers are safe and secure. Contraband and other
dangerous materials are separated from the guests every
night through intake and security procedures. The church
fellowship hall and rest facilities are, of course, kept
warm and cheery and guests are provided with blankets and
pillows and small amounts of hygiene items. Over the
counter pain relievers and cold medicines are carefully
issued by the volunteer leadership. Very ill guests are
cared for through the services of the Sterling Heights
Police and Fire agencies, with which the church has close
liaison.
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To provide wholesome and
nourishing food for our guests.
Through the efforts of our
volunteers, the guests are fed a hot meal of stews, soups
with hot sandwiches and/or chili shortly after they have
been received every evening. In the morning, guests are fed
a breakfast of cereals, rolls and fruit with coffee and
juices. On Sunday morning they are fed a hot breakfast. As
they leave in the morning, they are offered a sack lunch to
take with them so there is no need for them to feel hungry
at any time of the day. All this food is home made,
prepared in homes in advance or at the church and served to
the guests by smiling and caring volunteers.
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To greet our guests
warmly and treat them while with us in a Christ-like
manner.
Every evening, as a part of
the intake procedures, guests are issued name tags, similar
to the ones worn by the volunteers. While they are with us,
we call them by their names and we treat them with warmth
and with the dignity they deserve as God’s children. We
speak with them as brothers and sisters within Christ.
Christ commissioned us to feed His lambs, both physically
and in spirit. Christ is always with us. Our witness for
Him is through our actions. Our volunteers are committed to
this as a part of their faith walk.
How You Can Help
As noted
above, the key ingredient in our service to our guests is
our wonderful body of volunteers. Every year we have 95-100
volunteers that work in the Warming Center for our assigned
week. They work in the following areas:
Food Preparation
Food Serving
Guest Intake and Security
Overnight Hosting
Facility Cleaning
Miscellaneous Acts of Support
Many
more people provide financial assistance to support the
program and all of these and even more support the program
with prayer. There is no need to be a member of Utica UMC
to participate in this mission/ministry. All adults with a
heart that is called by the Holy Spirit to minister to the
homeless can participate in some way!
The
Warming Center leader at Utica UMC is Gerry Bryce. He may
be reached at 248-789-7057 or through the Church Office at
any time of the year.
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