On July 3, we’ll begin the summer session of Room in the Inn (RITI). This marks a full 11 years that St. Stephen has been hosting homeless guests since RITI was initiated in Fort Worth by St. Stephen and Broadway Baptist in November 2007.
During the months of July and August, traditionally our hottest months of the year, up to 15 men who are currently homeless will join us each Tuesday night/Wednesday morning for an overnight stay, two warm meals, a sack lunch for the next day—and most important—our hospitality.
To properly execute RITI each week requires approximately 30 volunteers. Volunteer opportunities include:
• Setup (beds/ dinner tables) (3:00 – 4:30pm Tues)
• Drivers (from/ to East Lancaster) (4:15– 5:15pm Tues; 7:00 – 8:00am Wed)
• Pre-preparation of dinner & delivery to the church kitchen (by 4pm Tues)
• Final preparation/ serving of dinner & cleanup at church (4:00 – 7:00pm Tues)
• Hosts—visiting with guests before/during/after dinner, or breakfast (5:00 – 9:00pm Tues; 6:30 – 7:00am Wed)
• Supervision of sack lunch preparation at church (6:30 – 7:30pm Tues)
• Innkeepers—sleeping overnight at church with our guests (9:00pm Tues – 6:00am Wed)
• Pre-preparation of breakfast & delivery to the church kitchen (by 9:00pm Tues)
• Final preparation/ serving of breakfast & cleanup at church (5:45 – 8:00am Wed)
• Laundry—washing bed linens/ towels/ wash cloths & delivering back to church (Wed pm – Tues am)
We welcome participation by everyone—St. Stephen members, visitors & friends—and know it will be a meaningful experience for you.
You can sign up for any of these jobs for a specific date in July or August online via Sign Up Genius: OR contact Wendy Larmour or Mike Tyson.
Thanks to Dan Fergus, who saw a problem and was determined to promptly fix it— and thanks to the generosity of members and friends of St. Stephen, who funded and helped to construct—we now have collapsible bed frames that enable our guests (and innkeepers!) to sleep elevated from the floor at a normal bed height! We know this will provide a more comfortable experience for our guests, and hope it will encourage more to volunteer as innkeepers, as it is now easier to get in and out of bed! Thank you, Dan and all who helped make this happen!
MANY THANKS to all who continue to make Room in the Inn a priority mission for St. Stephen!