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Volunteers prepare school for new use

Bank volunteers lend a hand at new cold-night shelter

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Date published: 9/17/2009

By Flowers Umble

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Two days a week, a group of bank employees trade their BlackBerrys, laptops and credit reports for paint rollers, scrapers and wide brushes.

Area BB&T branches have tackled the project of getting a former Stafford County school building ready to shelter the area's homeless this winter.

It's part of a new BB&T initiative called the "Lighthouse Project." Regional managers choose local service projects, and the company gives employees a few hours of vacation time to complete the work. It has two projects under way in the area.

"BB&T employees have always been involved in their communities in this area," said Donta Wilson, president of the bank's Battlefield Region. "Our Lighthouse Project shows our commitment to others as we serve as a beacon of hope for those most impacted by these difficult economic times."

Locally, BB&T managers chose Micah Ecumenical Ministries' cold-weather shelter, located near the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board Adult Activity Center on State Route 3 in southern Stafford, and the local Boys & Girls Club.

The shelter staffed by Micah and church volunteers on sub-freezing nights from November through March will have its own digs for the first time ever this winter.

In the school-turned-storage building, boxes labeled "Mayfest" and "Fall Wreaths" still fill the main room, which loan officers and mortgage supervisors painted "liveable green" last week.

The bank staff worked alongside Micah volunteers--homeless men participating in the ministry's Giving Back program. For serving, the homeless earn laundry vouchers, bus tickets and other rewards.

"It's been a really neat community project," said Micah Director Meghann Cotter. "So many different pieces have come together, from businesses to the people who go back and sleep in a tent."

More than 50 BB&T employees signed up to help and will work in shifts over the next month. Micah has also tapped college groups, churches and Rotary clubs for volunteers.

Inside the old school, some floors are bare and electric wires hang from the ceiling. The place still needs quite a bit of work.

"But it's come a long way since we first started," said Micah volunteer Jake Black.

The work should be done by mid-October so the cold-weather shelter can open Nov. 1. The shelter houses homeless people on nights when temperatures dip below 32 degrees.

The overnight guests will first eat dinners at downtown churches, then take a bus to the shelter. They'll go to Micah's hospitality center in the mornings for breakfast and showers.

As the bankers cleaned windows and painted walls, they said the shelter was a worthy service project.

The bank also donated 60 cots and blankets for the shelter.

Providing such simple necessities shows the depth of the need, said Sharon Kendall, regional mortgage manager.

"We've got employees that are struggling as well," she said. "Sometimes, when you struggle, giving to others really helps you."

Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com

Early 1988: Several Fredericksburg churches offer their fellowship halls to shelter the homeless during the first winter months. Fall 1988: The Church Shelter Board opens a winter shelter at the former Maury School. The shelter can host up to 60 people each night. Neighbors complain almost immediately. April 1990: The board names the shelter after longtime volunteer Thurman Brisben, who died that January. August 1990: Neighbors petition the Fredericksburg Circuit Court to rule the shelter a public nuisance. December 1991: The board leases a building on Essex Street but can't get the old warehouse in shape in time to host the winter shelter. Area homeless people are put up in a Spotsyl-vania County motel for the season. Dec. 11, 1992: The Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter opens on Essex Street. Almost 40 homeless adults and one child spend the night. January 1994: Responding to neighbor complaints, the city of Fredericksburg creates new rules for the shelter: limiting the facility to 80 beds; requiring self-help programs; capping the number of days residents can stay in a year; and giving priority to local residents. 1995: The tighter restrictions mean many chronically homeless no longer have a place to stay. The Salvation Army on Lafayette Boulevard opens its annex as an emergency shelter when temperatures dip below freezing. 2002: The cold-night shelter moves to the Bragg Hill Family Life Center, and area churches volunteer to staff the facility through the winter. Each year, the coalition of churches looks for another, permanent shelter location. Summer 2003: City churches band together to create Micah Ecumenical Ministries. Serving the homeless is the new group's primary goal. Summer 2008: The Rappahannock Area Community Services Board agrees to let Micah Ecumenical Ministries use the old Little Falls School building in Stafford County for a cold-weather shelter. Fall 2008: Stafford officials determine the building is not zoned to be used as a shelter. Micah needs a conditional-use permit and decides it would be impossible to open the shelter at the new location for the 2008-09 winter. June 2009: The Stafford Board of Supervisors approves the conditional-use permit. Micah staff start raising money and recruiting volunteers to turn the old school into a shelter. --Compiled by Amy Flowers Umble

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Date published: 9/17/2009