Area congregations provide about 35,000 nights of shelter per year. (Photo courtesy CARITAS)
To allay rising homelessness in the early 1980s, downtown churches and synagogues began offering shelter during cold weather. The “winter cots” program became CARITAS, which stood for Congregations Around Richmond Involved To Assure Shelter.
Today, the nonprofit works with 150 area congregations to host roughly 100 homeless people per night, in one-week increments, year-round. CARITAS also expanded to include a jobs program, a furniture bank and addiction recovery services.
As the organization prepares to open a new $27.9 million CARITAS Center with an on-site shelter in South Richmond in 2019, its interaction with congregations is expected to change. In September, faith community representatives will join a CARITAS Council to plan for their continued support.
“I want it to evolve as we’ve evolved and become even better,” CARITAS CEO Karen Stanley says of the congregational connections.
Cindy Paxton, CARITAS liaison at Cool Spring Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, says that hosting people in need has enabled members to participate in mission work on their own turf and helped them understand the realities of homelessness. But she sees a benefit to CARITAS offering a more consistent shelter environment. And, she says, “They’re still going to need the congregations to come alongside them and continue to serve those folks.”
