Update on March 22, 2020: both the Salisbury Daily Times and WMDT covered the opening of the Daytime Respite Room. Click the links below to see the related articles and video:
- Salisbury Daily Times (scroll down to find the Christian Shelter article)
- WMDT
Update on March 6, 2020: The following is for immediate release: Salisbury, MD – The Christian Shelter in Salisbury, Maryland opened a new Daytime Respite Room recently and to celebrate the event a ribbon cutting ceremony was hosted by members of the Women’s Fund. Initial funding for the renovation of this abandoned portion of the Christian Shelter for the purpose of providing afternoon respite for mothers with infants and small children was provided by the Women’s Fund.
The approximately 450 SF of comfortable space contains toys, books, and a rug for crawling toddlers, two cribs, children’s table & chairs, and chairs for mothers.
This new Respite Room will provide an important afternoon safety sanctuary for homeless mothers with infants. Currently once the mothers have completed their appointments, job search, housing search, medical appointments and other family needs in the morning, there is no sanctuary for the mothers to safely care their children in the afternoons. The new Daytime Respite Room will allow infants and small children to take afternoon naps and to be safe from weather conditions. This safe afternoon sanctuary provides a respite from potentially unsafe exposed conditions that the mothers currently experience.
The Christian Shelter is thankful and extends its appreciation to the Women’s Fund, an anonymous donor, and several businesses, all for providing the resources necessary to complete this necessary renovation and to open this Daytime Respite Room for mothers with infants and small children.
Christian Shelter is a homeless shelter, “provided for by God through his people”, and has been serving the area homeless for 40 years. For more information about the Christian Shelter and its mission see; www.ChristianShelter.org
We proudly announce the Ribbon Cutting & Unveiling of our Respite Room. The ceremony will take place at the Christian Shelter on Friday, March 6, 2020, at 10 a.m.
The Christian Shelter had over 400 homeless children resident at the Christian Shelter in 2019. The demographics of homelessness have changed dramatically over the past decade. Now, more and more families are temporarily homeless. The Christian Shelter has thirteen emergency Family Rooms available for families with children. These Family Rooms are almost always full and the number of families that we have to turn away each year due to lack of Family Room space is staggering.
When a family is provided emergency shelter at the Christian Shelter the family and staff develop an agreed upon “Plan” to improve their crisis situation and to stabilize the family. The Christian Shelter staff works with each family to create a “Plan” unique to the family’s situation. These are efforts identified within the individual “Plan”. Some of the issues that the family would be working on might include: Seeking employment, interviewing, filling out applications, etc.; Seeking Social Services for children; Obtaining Identification documents; Applying for Food Stamps; Seeking Medical help: Obtaining Transportation; Seeking Daycare; and other. To make the “Plan” work each guest is to leave the Christian Shelter each morning after breakfast and to keep appointments to pursue efforts to help themselves.
When a mother is caring for small children, she takes her children to all of these appointments. The children tire in the afternoon. So what is a mother to do you do if her infant tires and needs a nap in the afternoon, or if the weather is harsh?
Well beginning in March, mothers with infants will be able to return to the Christian Shelter in the afternoon and will be able to gain shelter in the new Daytime Respite Room. This new room has cribs, toys, changing tables, and chairs for mothers with infants. This newly renovated room provides mothers with a much needed “respite” in the afternoon. The children have a crib, a changing table, a warm dry room and toys to spend a few hours before the Christian Shelter reopens to guests in the evening. We are thankful to those funding sources and those companies who did much of the renovation work, and to those who donated children’s cribs, toys, rug, and furniture. Thank you so much.
Special thanks to the Women’s Fund for the initial funding for the Daytime Respite Room. The Women’s Fund provided the “seed funding” to get this renovation work started. The remaining funding was provided by an anonymous donor. Also special thanks to Harper & Sons, Triple J. Electric, Charles Brown Glass and others for careful and helpful construction services.
The Christian Shelter wishes to say: “Thank You” to all. On Friday, March 6th there will be a ribbon cutting to open this new family Daytime Respite Room.
We are blessed and our mothers with infants are blessed by the help of many of you. Thank you from all of us at the Christian Shelter.
