The Friends Shelter

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.

We provide shelter and hospitality for twelve homeless men and women. The shelter is open seven days a week, every day of the year.