Preview of Overnight Shelter with St. James

For many years, UUFSD has collaborated with St. James Catholic Church to welcome and house unsheltered individuals for two weeks each winter through the auspices of the Interfaith Shelter Network. Typically, St. James has coordinated and provided volunteers for the first week of the shelter and we've done the same for the second. Beginning this January, Jack Makowski and David Sheils from St. James will be Coordinators for both weeks. To help Jack and David, Mary Anne and Paul Trause from UUFSD will be there every evening of the second week as consistent hosts for the guests and volunteers. You'll be able to volunteer to bring meals or serve as overnight hosts during both weeks, as can congregants from St. James. We'll identify three nights as UUFSD volunteer nights so we can carry on our great tradition of joining to meet and eat with the guests together. Although we have these three dedicated UU nights, you can volunteer any night that fits your schedule. This gives us more flexibility and the opportunity to get to know and work with members of St. James. Everyone's excited about our closer collaboration. We're looking for a Communication Liaison from our fellowship to ensure smooth communications between the congregations. This will be done mostly through emails, texts and phone calls to keep everyone on the same page.

If you're interested, email wintershelter@uufsd.org. Mark your calendar for the shelter dates: 1/17- 1/31/27. The first Sign-Up Genius will go out on 11/23/26. Stay tuned!