How Can You Help?

VOLUNTEERING:

As HSHS is run entirely by students and volunteers, we have a very large group of dedicated volunteers who contribute a wide variety of skills and time to the shelter. In 2002, we had 14 directors, 14 supervisors, and 150 volunteers.

Description of Shifts:

  • Morning/Breakfast: Breakfast volunteers, arriving between 6am and 6:30am (except on Saturdays when they arrive an hour later), help the overnight volunteers cook breakfast for the guests and clean up the shelter. The shift ends when the shelter has been swept, mopped, and scrubbed down—usually by 8:30 or 9 AM.
  • Dinner: Dinner volunteers have a wide variety of tasks to help with, from food salvaging from the Harvard dining halls, cooking dinner, and preparing the shelter for the arrival of guests, to greeting guests as they arrive, serving dinner, and running plates of food outside to those who are hungry but do not have a bed reserved for the night. Shifts run from approximately 7PM to 9:15PM.
  • Evening: Although not all fun and games—volunteers of this shift are mainly responsible for helping clean up after dinner—this shift is often cited as the most relaxing and laidback. Other than maintenance chores such as laundry and dishes, volunteers are free to sit back, chat, play cards or board games, or watch tv and movies with the guests. Shifts run from 9PM to 11:15PM.
  • Overnight: Often dubbed the hardcore volunteers, overnighters work the longest shift—from 11PM until the shelter is cleaned up in the morning (usually 8:30AM). Other than assisting the breakfast volunteers with morning chores, however, tasks on this shift tend not to be demanding. Awake shifts are drawn up by the overnight supervisors so that everyone has scheduled sleep times. Although perhaps one of the most demanding shifts, it is also one of the most fulfilling.

DONATIONS:

HSHS accepts many kinds of donations:

  • Clothing: HSHS maintains a clothing closet for both men and women, as well as a closet of socks and underwear. New clothing, socks and underwear, and shoes as well as used clothing and shoes are always welcome. Large T-shirts are especially needed.
  • Blankets: In addition to the need for blankets within the shelter, HSHS also routinely gives out blankets upon request at the door.
  • Food: Any groceries, from cereal to canned food to leftovers from functions, are always welcome.
  • Financial Support: Donations can be made towards general day-to-day maintenance of the shelter or towards payment for the 1999 renovations via the HSHS Corporation. Due to recent budget cuts, the shelter is in special need of financial support. The corporation is a registered non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization.

HSHS relies on the generosity of others for both day-to-day maintenance and long-term support. A wide variety of materials are necessary for HSHS to continue providing services and shelter to the homeless population of Cambridge. If you are in doubt as to whether or not we are in need of your specific donations, please feel free to call and ask — more often than not we will find a use for it.

ACTIVISM:

Emergency shelters are by definition only a band-aid, temporary solution to the problem of homelessness.  A variety of efforts, such as drives to increase affordable housing, strengthen rental assistance programs, and increase wages, are geared towards long term solutions to this problem.  With the current economic situation, many of these programs are under constant threat of debilitating budget cuts.  To learn more about how you can help prevent these safety nets from disappearing, check out some of the websites in the links section.