Where do people access the shelter every day?
The shelter coordinator and a staff person go to St. Vincents each day and compile a Stand By list of potential men who are waiting for shelter. Then the coordinator reads off the list of forty “Regular Guests”–those 40 men who have been identified as the most serious and cooperative, who follow the rules of the program, and those who are disabled or elderly as well as cooperative. These criteria are essential for our journeys into neighborhoods, the peace and quiet of each site and the limited space in congregations. Once the list of 40 is decided, the men wait for a bus to arrive about 5:30pm. Guests wait in the dining room until names are called and a few at a time proceed in an orderly fashion to cross the street and enter the bus. St. Vincents is virtually empty after we leave. At this time, women waiting for shelter are taken by staff to the pick up point for the women’s shelter. By 5:45-6pm, all persons receiving shelter for the night are gone from B Street.
