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Safe Nights provides food, shelter from cold of winter
Churches band together to help those most in need
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL
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It's feeling like winter already and thanks to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, starting last week, the homeless have a warm place to lay their heads until spring.
Volunteers from more than 30 local churches have organized to feed and house the homeless of Calvert County for 20 weeks, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., providing a safe and hospitable environment in local churches of all denominations.
Safe Nights of Calvert County primary champions Joseph and Mary Ann Zaversnik crusaded throughout the county telling church leaders and parishioners about the project and asking them to volunteer their place of worship and their time to help the homeless.
"The churches have just been wonderful. It's an ecumenical project," said Mary Zaversnik. The homeless in Calvert are not visible like in big cities, but the county does have homeless people, she said.
"These people are just like us, but they have fallen on hard times. They deserve a home and food," Zaversnik said.
Last year, Safe Nights ran for eight weeks and the group decided to expand it for 20 weeks, from Nov. 16 through the end of March. The Calvert Interfaith Council laid the foundation of the project and advocated for it in local churches.
At the beginning some people were worried that churches would not step up to the challenge, said Bill Stanton, who originally suggested the idea of a safe night modeling it from the Lifestyles Program in Charles County. Stanton, president of the board of Project ECHO, said Project ECHO could not accommodate all the homeless at the shelter and he saw a need for a homeless program.
"We all got together and talked about the possibility," he said of its inception.
"It's the right thing to do, so I think that's why it happened," Stanton said. That's what usually happens, when there's a need people step up and fill it, he said.
The volunteer coordinator for St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Lusby, Katie Grover, echoed Stanton saying it's the right thing to do and that is why she stepped up to volunteer.
"I think it's what God would want us to do as a community," Grover said.
As a youth minister in Alabama, Grover said she worked with the homeless and it became a passion of hers. They are people with a story, and there is a need for someone to reach out and care for them, she said. Grover, who said she returned home to Calvert recently, heard about the Safe Nights program and felt she should help.
St. Nicholas Lutheran Church on Plum Point Road hosted the first week of Safe Nights, with adults, middle school and high school students volunteering to cook for the homeless who signed up for the program.
The Rev. Julie Wizoreck of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Prince Frederick said her church has tried to get many people involved so the program is part of the community. The Jewish congregation, Beit Chaverim, which uses the church for services, is also volunteering, she said. About 50 volunteers have already signed up, Wizoreck said. The church, which volunteered for the Safe Nights program last year as well, installed a showering facility this year and has a big kitchen and area for sleeping, Wizoreck said.
It's the first year for Grace Brethren Church in Owings to participate in the program and they, too, have more than 50 volunteers signed up to help host their week, said Joel Proctor, who is assisting with coordination at his church.
"It was presented to us and we thought that we could join in," he said. It's all organized with training for coordinators and directions for setting up, he said. "They know what they're doing," Proctor said.
It's been a lot of work, but it's well worth it, Zaversnik said.
"It seems to be a real good fit here in the county," Stanton said. "I think it's beneficial to everyone, clearly it's a benefit to people who participate."
Safe Nights does not receive any public funding. Instead it relies on the generosity of the various faith communities. Monetary donations are tax deductible and can be made payable to St. John Vianney Church/Safe Nights. Safe Nights is currently seeking nonprofit status so it can apply for grants, Zaversnik said.
"Our goal is to be self-sufficient," she said.
charvat@somdnews.com
Joanne Nowatski of Prince Frederick, who is homeless, gets served a homecooked meal Wednesday from Candace Ross, 15, left, Camille Ross, 17, both of St. Leonard, and Maggie Scopel, 14, of Huntingtown at St. Nicholas Lutheran Church as part of the Safe Nights homeless shelter program. Thirty Calvert County churches are combining their efforts to house and feed the homeless through March 31.
