Harbor Homes Winter Shelter 2020 – 2021
The 2020/2021 shelter season is going incredibly well. The staff and guests are healthy, happy, and enjoying good company, new friendships, yummy meals, and our space at the Old Whaling Church. The staff and volunteers are an amazing group of men and women who give their hearts and time to help those less fortunate. While COVID may be spiking and creating negative energy, the awesome people working to make the Old Whaling Church a safe winter home are creating an environment of peace, compassion, kindness, and fun.
The shelter is open 7 days a week. We are open from 12 – 2 pm each day for lunch and warming up. We open again at 5 pm for overnight check-in. All overnight guests must check in by 6 pm. Overnight guests are welcome to stay in the shelter until 9 am. We serve a hot breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. Our breakfasts are prepared by: Little Rock Farm (quiche), Dip 02539 (breakfast sandwiches) and Espresso Love (breakfast sandwiches). For lunch we serve soup and sides (could be quiche, or sandwich, or roll). For dinner we have Chef Jimmy Alvarado, The Pawnee House, Little House Cafe, The Barn, West Tisbury Congregational Church, Good Shepherd, Grace Church, and Edgartown Pizza cooking for us. All of these fantastic restaurants are working with us to stay within our food budget of $20 per day per person.
Our guests can shower on Mondays and Thursdays between 2:30 pm – 5 pm.
We currently have two women and 9 men registered. We have two open slots available.
If anyone has questions or would like to volunteer or work as a paid employee, please have them contact the shelter coordinator: Lisa Belcastro, 508-560-3678.
All the best,
Lisa Belcastro
PS. We are blessed to have the best staff ever!!! I can’t say enough wonderful words about the people who work and volunteer for us this year. We have 42 shifts fully covered each week, volunteers helping with showers on Monday and Thursday each week thanks to Ilona’s great organizing, volunteers picking up and delivering meals from our fabulous Island restaurants who are working within our budget, and Marjorie is orchestrating our three churches still able to provide dinners on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights.
We are truly blessed, and our guests are incredibly appreciative and always expressing their thankfulness.
On a personal level, I love my job, the people I work with, and those we serve. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.
May God bless each of you in the New Year in ways that are personal to your needs and hearts’ desires.
Lisa
An important message about Houses of Grace and Harbor Homes during Coved19.
For the past few years, Houses of Grace, organized by the island faith community and staffed by volunteers, has sheltered our island’s unhoused in the colder months. Because of the pandemic, this winter of 2020 – 2021 will be different. Harbor Homes of Martha’s Vineyard has stepped in to fill the void and both the overnight shelter and the day warming shelter will operate out of the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown. Three hot meals are available every day. Please visit the Gazette article below for information and schedule.