GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Fall is here, winter is coming and for those on the streets, warmth is nowhere to be found. Fortunately, nine local churches are holding a warm center the one time of the week when homeless people would otherwise be left alone outside in the cold.
“Everybody is our neighbor. It doesn’t matter where they’ve been, it doesn’t matter who they are,” Jerry Bader, Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church pastor, said. “Our mission is to love people the minute they walk in that door.”
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St. John’s Ministries is the overnight warming shelter where residents can stay from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. the following morning. During the day, those in need frequent the library or public transportation, except for Sundays, when those services are closed.
“A major deficiency [in warming centers] was detected. Now, nine churches are taking turns being here on Sunday afternoon, providing love, compassion, a warm place,” Bader said, as his Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church prepares to host dozens starting the first week of November. “When you walk in that door, you’re loved. So we’re opening the door to allow people to come in and be loved, be recognized, be respected, be treated with dignity. It could be 40, it could be 50, it could be more, it’s certainly going to be dozens of people.”