A Night’s Welcome is the winter shelter run by HELP, Inc. for our neighbors experiencing homelessness in Hampton and Newport News. Through the coldest months, guests have a warm place to sleep from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., with a hot dinner and breakfast. Each guest also meets with HELP’s staff, who look for other ways HELP can support them.
St. John’s volunteers prepare and serve dinners and breakfasts for the shelter several times over the course of each season. To help cook, serve, or clean up, contact the Parish Office.
You can also volunteer with HELP directly for check-in, dinner, overnight, breakfast, or clean-up shifts. HELP also collects items for its guests, including new packaged underwear in all sizes, deodorant, washcloths, gallon bags, backpacks, bus passes, and ponchos. Sign-ups and the current list of needs are on HELP’s A Night’s Welcome page.
St. John’s has been part of A Night’s Welcome for many years, and until 2020 the parish hosted the shelter for a week each winter. Read about those years: 2009, 2012, 2018, and 2019.