Volunteer church drivers pick up homeless people at the main Howard Transit bus stop behind The Mall in Columbia at 5:30 p.m.
Each person gets an evening meal, breakfast the next morning and a lunch to take with them. Many churches offer showers and laundry services. More volunteer drivers take the guests back to the mall at 7 a.m. the next morning.
While the concept of putting two dozen people up each night for a week with mattresses provided by the county may seem simple, it is not, said Greg McKelvin, who coordinates the effort for the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Martin Road in Columbia.
"It's pretty big," he said, noting that his church uses 90 to 95 volunteers for one week's effort, which includes two church members' staying at the shelter each night.
McKelvin said the effort entails organizing the shifts, getting volunteer drivers, cooks and laundry volunteers, and coordinating with the county and Grassroots. Church members donate food as well as time, often cooking meals at home and bringing food in, while others use the church's kitchen, he said.
The church, which is in its fifth year of participating, is committed to the effort, McKelvin said.
"It's something that's really needed," he said. "Our churches really like being involved in the community. It's one of the things we pride ourselves for."
Ingram said Grassroots, which also offers crisis intervention and other services, also is trying to build a more stable income stream to escape the ups and downs the economy imposes on donations.
To that end, a new program called Friends of Grassroots is being launched. Ingram said her agency is seeking donors - groups, individuals and businesses - who might be willing to agree to monthly installment gifts throughout the year.
"We need predictable, steady income," she said. "If we could have some contributions on a monthly basis, there are things we would really like to do that we can't."
Chief among them are raising employee pay and keeping up with rising health insurance costs.
"We fall behind so quickly," she said.
Pay is low, anyway, and health insurance premiums keep rising and benefits keep receding.
"You get to the point that you can't give people what they need."
help
Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center
Location: 6700 Freetown Road, Columbia.
Accommodations: 51 beds, 33 for women and children and 18 for men, plus four emergency beds.
Size: two stories, covering 25,150 square feet, three times size of former shelter
