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After not being able to facilitate it last year, The Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk (CAPS) started their Church Night Shelter Program on Jan.1. With five participating churches, Jan Pruden, services team member, said the program is expected to continue through Feb. 12. 

Pruden said their goal is to “assist neighbors in need who need to be out from the cold.” Every night during the program, transportation is provided by one of the churches. The bus starts picking people up at 6:30 p.m. from the bus stop across from the Suffolk Seaboard Station Railroad Museum and brings them to the church that is hosting that night.

“When they get there, they’re greeted and treated with respect and hospitality and have a hot meal,” Pruden said.

When people arrive at the church, Pruden said there’s a simple registration process. Participants must pass a breathalyzer test and not be on the registered sex offender list. Once they are registered, they are welcome to come back every night the program is offered as long as they do not get taken off the list — which would only be for extenuating circumstances, Pruden said. 

Each night, visitors are offered a safe place to stay, a hot meal, and access to showers before lights out at 10 p.m. In the morning, everyone is brought back to the bus stop and is given a hot meal for breakfast and a bagged lunch.

Jayda Pierce, an intern at CAPS, said they are also given an air mattress, sheets, and a blanket to sleep with. 

Services team member Deandra Parks emphasized that how long the Church Night Shelter Program can last each year is solely dependent on how many churches participate.

“We are really depending on them and still hoping that more churches will opt in and want to participate, even if it’s from an aspect of contributing meals [or] sending over volunteers so that we’re well staffed,” she said.

Pierce said since the program started a few weeks ago, they have already noticed a consistent group of people coming into the churches. It’s mostly single people or couples, she said, but they encourage anyone who needs it to use it. 

“The more, the merrier,” Pruden said.

Pruden said they try to be prepared for as many people to come as possible. She said the last time they ran the program in 2023, they had as many as 30 guests for one night. This year, they are preparing for that again, with the expectation that the numbers will grow as the program goes on.

In the past, Pruden said they have had other church programs and community partners participate to offer various services such as legal and medical advice. She said this year they are hoping to offer a free clinic.

In addition to these services, Pierce said many churches have TVs people can watch, and sometimes they host games or play music. She said oftentimes people just want to chat and have everyday conversations.

“Sometimes it feels like there’s such a darkness at shelters,” Pierce said. “But in our time at shelter, you want to provide encouragement, you want to provide prayer, any kind of resources we can. And so that may be providing a hot meal, and it’s having a conversation and talking to them as the person they are, not just what their situation [is and what] they’re going through.”