Interfaith Hospitality Network
First Congregational UCC participates in the Interfaith Hospitality Network, which is a ministry that offers emergency food and shelter for homeless families. FCC hosts up to 14 homeless people for a week, up to three times a year, as part of the program.
Our building becomes a temporary haven as we provide food and lodging to our guests. The Sunday School rooms, library, and choir room are bedrooms for up to four families. About sixty members of the church share the tasks of preparing and serving food, driving the families to and from the day center, unloading and setting up cots, making beds, doing laundry, staying overnight, providing children's activities, and coordinating volunteers.
We benefit as a congregation from the knowledge that we are serving families in need. Working together as partners to make our visitors comfortable, we become a closer community. Often through interaction with our guests, we gain deeper insight into the root causes of homelessness, and with this insight, greater compassion, as the "homeless" become people we know.