WATTS Program
Winchester Area Temporary Transitional Shelter (WATTS) is a program conducted by congregations in Frederick and Clarke Counties and Winchester to provide warm, safe shelter and nourishment to homeless members of our community during the winter months. WATTS has been very successful. Since its inception, WATTS has grown from eight to 18 host congregations, which significantly increases support to the most vulnerable members of our local homeless community.
Christ Church will host WATTS guests February 3-10, 2024 in our parish hall.
For more information about WATTS, please visit their website.
Sign up here to be a volunteer. Here are some of the opportunities:
o Registration (6-8 pm) - Register guests into the Christ Church WATTS shelter. Inspect the smoking area for contraband, meet with the Night Manager at 6:00 pm; at 7 pm, admit guests in accordance with Night Manager’s guidance.
o Manage Floor (7-10:30 pm) - Manage the WATTS site to ensure guests comply with WATTS rules, and monitor two evening smoke breaks (approximately from 8:15-8:30 pm and 10:00-10:15 pm) in the designated smoke break area.
o Breakfast Duty (5-8 am) Prepare and serve breakfast to guests and provide bag lunches (prepared by Youth Group) to guests.
o Sunday Breakdown ((7-9 am) Rearrange WATTS site to accommodate Coffee Hour.
o Sunday Reset (12:30-2:30 pm) - Reset the Christ Church Parish Hall for WATTS after the Sunday Coffee Hour, i.e. arrange cots, tables, chairs etc.; use site configuration diagram.
o Site Breakdown (7 am-noon) - Take down and load WATTS cots and equipment into the van for movement to the next host church and clean up the Parish Hall.
o Setup Dinner (6-8 pm) - Work with the cooking team to set up dining area for dinner.
o Serve Dinner (7-8:30 pm) - Work with the cooking team to serve dinner to the guests.
o Dinner Cleanup (7:30-9:30 pm) - Work with the cooking team to clean up after dinner.
o Site Cleanup & Resupply (in the days after – time is flexible) Work with Tuffy to clean up the WATTS area and buy supplies listed by the Lead Volunteer(s).
Please contact Pat Shaner if you have any questions.
