Address
811 N. Catalina Ave. Suite 2006 Redondo Beach, CA 90250
Work Hours
Monday to Friday: 9 am - 5 pm and by appointment. We work remotely on Fridays.
All churches are invited to volunteer.
What is the Winter Refuge Shelter? In case you’re not as familiar, First Pres. Hollywood takes people and rehabilitates them, in partnership with the Department of Mental Health, to house them permanently. They are off the streets forever after coming to the Refuge. First Pres. Hollywood has had an incredible success rate of keeping these folks housed, too, and really bathing their ministry in the power of prayer and the love of Jesus. They are now the model for LA County; in fact, the Department of Mental Health is trying to replicate this work all across the county.
The Winter Shelter Refuge is in First Pres. Hollywood’s Fellowship Hall and they are asking for a small group from your church (4-7 people) to come and help serve a meal (your group can bring food if they want to in coordination with their hired cook) and then sit at a table, talk to, and do various activities together with the 20-30 homeless guests (they do art, play a game, sing songs, have a Bible study, etc.), for a couple of hours, from about 5:30-7:30 pm. It’s very, very simple, but it’s a powerful formative tool for our congregants to really act on our belief that everyone is an equally beloved child of God.
The Winter Refuge Shelter runs through March 21st, so it is also a great Lenten spiritual formation and act of service for a small group, a youth group, a deacons’ group, a mission committee, a worship team, etc. Volunteers are transformed by the experience of listening to the guests’ stories and connecting with them in this way.
Let me know if you are at all interested and I’ll put you in touch with Amie! Please see the flyer for more information.
Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble
heidi@pacificpresbytery.org