Volunteer!

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315 South
Café Rules

1. NO SMOKING
2. NO WEAPONS
3. NO DRUGS OR DRUG PARAPHEERNALIA
4. NO ALCOHOL
5. NO VIOLENCE

The 315 South Café is meant to be a safe place. No aggressive, antisocial or illeagal activity will be tolerated. If you are asked to leave and refuse, you may jeopardize your chances of returning.

Home > Programs > 315 South Homeless Café

315 South Homeless Café

315 South

315 South Cafe opens January 12th 2009
& runs through March 31st

In response to the city's growing homelessness crisis, BSM partnered with the City of Philadelphia and the Bethesda Project to create the 315 South Homeless Café. Aimed to meet the needs of the most 'shelter-resistant' homeless population-the mentally ill, the aged and frail, the abused-this café operated as a safe place for people to come from 10pm to 6am-seven days a week. The café welcomed 408 unique 'guests'-75 people stayed for over 30 nights, and the Café was featured on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Open each night from 10pm to 6am, a warm meal is given, hospitality is shared, and a community exclusive to none is built.

For the isolated-welcome; for the weary-rest

315 South

The Challenge: Philadelphia is experiencing an alarming upturn in homelessness among men, women and children. Shelters are running beyond capacity and many of the most vulnerable of our city will not brave the existing shelter system out of fear or due to mental illness. There is a need for a creative response to this chronic problem.

The Response: Broad Street Ministry, together with the Bethesda Project and the City of Philadelphia are responding to the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors by providing a warm and safe place for center city's most vulnerable adults who are homeless. Believing that going beyond the offer of shelter, we will need to respond to this population by providing a special kind of environment that emphasized friendship, caring, and healing in a safe place. Not a shelter, 315 South will carefully identify 50 of the city's most vulnerable homeless people who will not enter the existing shelter system. We will offer them a center for hospitality, to access services, to drink a cup of coffee and enjoy a cup of soup.

When: 7 nights per week, volunteers are needed from 9-11:30pm (and beyond)

Guests: 50 adults per night

Can You Help?

Contact community Impact Coordinator Kirsten King @ 215.735.4847 or at kirsten@broadstreetministry.org if you want to help...

We need volunteers every night from 9pm- 11:30pm-(mandatory orientation begins at 9pm sharp) to assist with greeting guests; setting up the room; serving snacks; interacting with guests (board games, conversations, movies) You may elect to visit with the guests at 315 South one or more nights per week

Volunteer hours are from 9 PM to 12 AM.
Jobs Available for Volunteers
- Serving Soup – bringing bowls of soup to seated guest at the table, offering a beverage and bread, crackers, etc.
- Clothing – a volunteer may be put in charge of retrieving clothing for individual guests from upstairs clothing room. At the time of taking the clothing out of the room it will also have to be recorded on the inventory of clothing. The staff will determine guests in need of clothing and equal distribution.
- Game player – This person's "job" would be to offer to play various games, card, puzzles, etc with guest in an effort to foster a relationship.
- Conversationalist – This person would be there in order to make conversation...

Learn More

Want to read more about the café initiative?
Click here to download this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer [PDF]

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