The Friends Shelter

Description

We provide shelter and hospitality for the homeless at the Friends Meeting House in Manhattan. The shelter is open seven days a week, 365 days of the year. All of our homeless guests are referred to us by the Neighborhood Coalition for Homeless People, a drop-in center on the Upper East Side. The Neighborhood Coalition provides many services including screening our guests for drugs, alcohol and tuberculosis. Two of our volunteers arrive at 8:00pm to set up the cots and a refreshment table. Our guests arrive by bus from the drop-in center at around 8:30pm. Lights are out at 10pm. Wake up time is at 6, when we set out a light breakfast. The bus comes to pick up our guests at a little before 7, giving us time to store the cots, tidy up and leave in time to go to work or to whatever we do in our daily lives.