Volunteers Needed for Cold-Weather Homeless Shelter

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The S. Snohomish County Emergency Cold Weather Shelter has opportunities for you to help our neighbors in need between November 2022 and March 2023. On evenings when the temperature dips, it is especially dangerous for people without shelter or unstable shelter (camping or car-camping) to be outside. We are able to open a temporary shelter location on nights like these and provide a dinner and breakfast meal as well as a place to safely sleep indoors.

We continue to be in need of volunteers willing to fulfill the following roles:

• Team Leading: We have a need to create teams to fill in our schedule. Team Leaders often recruit volunteers and organize their scheduled shift. We will help train anyone willing to take on a leadership role.
• Driving: we have a large van provided by our partner Trinity Lutheran Church that we use to transport any guests of the shelter who do not come in on bicycles or in cars. Evening drivers pick up guests at specified locations around the city of Lynnwood. Morning drivers drop guests off at these locations.
• Greeters (PRIORITY): the majority of the in-person volunteer work will be as a greeter. Greeters screen our guests for illness, check them into the shelter and collect minimum information and conduct bag and person checks.
• Cleaning (Mornings, PRIORITY): The facility that we use will need thorough cleaning each morning as the guests are getting organized to leave the shelter. We need volunteers willing to clean the facility according to CDC guidelines.
• Overnight Staff (PRIORITY): We require 2 people (ideally a man and a woman) to stay in the shelter overnight for guest safety and fire watch. At least 1 person must be awake at all times, which is why we have 2 staff. Staff receive a stipend for their service.

We require that anyone volunteering be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Hepatitis A and Influenza.

We have established teams that lead each night that you can join, or you can volunteer as a free-agent (willing to work with any of our teams). We are planning to have an orientation meeting via Zoom in late-October and will have all of the details of how the shelter will operate at that time.

Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering! We would love to meet you.