By Rose Wasky
Schneider House of Hope
124 South Detroit Street
Xenia, Ohio
Epiphany’s Next Service Week: April 30-May 6
The Greene County Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) has been open since June, 1995. Its goal is to alleviate homelessness by providing temporary shelter, meals, counseling, resume preparation, job interview training, building self-esteem, budgeting and money management. The Schneider House of Hope, an IHN facility, has ten guest rooms including one on the ground floor for handicap accessibility. These rooms can accommodate up to 28 guests plus infants. Each family has their own room. Also offered are nutrition programs including meal planning, case management, relationship skills, client training and development, transportation, and assistance for homeless persons, especially to those individuals with dependent children, up to 60 days.
Primary assistance, provided by our congregation, is in the form of providing meals and overnight hosts for an entire week, twice a year. This past year, Epiphany provided more than fourteen meals during our assigned weeks, with one meal provided by our youth who also passed out quilts. We hosted more than seven times, including extra times when needed, and gave 25 beautiful quilts to the children staying at the Schneider House of Hope. Epiphany is the only church that gives the children at the IHN quilts to keep, which they love receiving. Epiphany’s youth are still taking the lead, being the only church youth group to prepare and deliver meals to the IHN, plus staying to play with the children.
One way is to provide a meal by choosing a date from the IHN sign-up board, which is placed in Campus Welcome Spaces a month prior to service dates. The meal is taken on that day to the Schneider House of Hope by 5 p.m. You will receive an email or phone call a few days in advance to let you know for how many guests you will be cooking. The meals should be simple, like pizza, hot dogs, sloppy joes, pot roast, etc., along with a vegetable and dessert. Individual families, friends, small groups, or one person can provide the meal. Our Epiphany youth usually provide a meal during our week to serve. You are encouraged to stay and enjoy fellowship with the guests or play with the children, but it is not necessary. There can be as few as 10 to as many as 28 guests to prepare for, some of them being children.
The second way is to serve as an overnight host from 7 p.m. – 7 a.m. The purpose of the host is to be present in case of an emergency. If they choose, the host(s) may share in fellowship with the guests and children until they go to their rooms at 9 p.m. The building and host quarters are secure. There are two twin beds, a sitting room with TV, and a half bath in the host quarters. One or two adults, a parent and a child over the age of 16, or a couple can host. It’s the only place where one can sleep on the job! There are dates to choose from on the IHN sign-up board when it is placed at Campus Welcome Spaces.
The third way is to help make the beautiful quilts that are blessed and given to each child staying at the Schneider House of Hope during our weeks of service. Children staying there usually don’t have much to call their own, and these quilts help fill this void. They are so excited to receive them! One mother told us she had to sneak the quilt from her sleeping child at night to wash it. There was no way the little girl was going to let that quilt go.
Giving your time and talents to this ministry is a perfect way to “Love Jesus by Serving Others.” Proceeds from the 2016 Bunny Hop 5K/10K at our Easter Family Fun Celebration on March 26 will go to IHN, so participating in the race is yet another way to give and serve. If you are interested in helping out with this ministry in any way, please contact serve@epiphanydayton.org.