On many nights throughout January and February, Kristi would be at the Good Sam Winter Shelter, her friendly face welcoming our Ephrata neighbors in need into the doors of The Living Room Church.
Here, men and women who otherwise would have spent the night in the cold have a chance to breathe, get warm, and get a good night of sleep where both they and their possessions can be safe. The stress and anxiety often roll off their shoulders when they learn they have a safe space to spend the night.
In our winter shelter, we have 15 warm beds available for our Ephrata neighbors who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets—a harsh and potentially deadly reality in frigid temperatures. When temperatures drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit, it only takes 30 minutes or less to get frostbite, making shelter essential.
Kristi and other Good Sam Winter Shelter staff are there night after night with smiles and listening ears for those who need it. They laugh and talk with the participants, making sure they have a warm meal and water. Sometimes they color together. Sometimes Kristi brings supplies in to do nails with those in the program.
Their kindness gives a sense of dignity and normalcy to people at their rock bottom.
“Initially going into this, you don’t really realize the people that you are serving,” Kristi shared. “But they really are just like normal, everyday people, like a neighbor.”
So many of us are just one life-altering event from being in the same shoes whether it’d be a sudden illness, job loss, or an abusive relationship. Having gone through our program herself, Kristi understands this at a personal level.
“For a lot of people at the shelter, it’s really just circumstances of life that may have happened, and they really are just good people,” she said. “They are just like you or I. They just have been dealt some bad hands.”
“That really sticks with me because it could be any one of us at any point with any sort of life-altering experience. They deserve to be seen and heard and welcomed to the shelter, just like anybody.”
At Good Sam, our mission is to stand beside those facing homelessness and poverty, offering hope, compassion, and dignity as they work toward stability. Our Winter Shelter, one aspect of that mission, not only provides a warm, safe place to sleep but also serves as a vital first step in building trust. For many experiencing homelessness, this outreach becomes the gateway to accepting support and taking the next steps toward lasting stability.
“I’ve seen changes in people,” Kristi shared, drawing on three years working at the shelter. “I’ve seen some people move on to really be able to sustain a home or a job … and get back on their feet.”
“I think the biggest thing is that Good Sam is giving them the tools and allowing them to keep ahold of that hope that things can get better if given the opportunity and given the space to be able to do that.”
That’s why we do what we do—to help those facing homelessness find hope and realize that they are not alone. Whether it’s one of our Ephrata neighbors living on the streets or a single Dad in Phoenixville, we want to give them the courage to continue on and create a brighter future for themselves and their families
Together, we can keep giving those facing homelessness the hope they need to change their future.
