Brooklyn Heights Synagogue Homeless Shelter for Women

This volunteer-run shelter has hosted 10 women Monday through Thursday during the winter months for 25 years. Various churches and organizations throughout Brooklyn have committed to provide volunteers for this shelter. 

The women who stay at the shelter are a diverse group – some have jobs, some have families – with only one thing in common: they are all homeless.  They come by bus from a drop-in social services center on the west side of Manhattan ran by Partnership for the Homeless. Of the 100 women receiving services there, a few dozen are eligible for a coveted “church bed” (a volunteer-run shelter), which means they have been screened for health and other problems. Often “church beds” are a step along the way to qualifying for more permanent city housing. The professionals from The Partnership for the Homeless do all of the screening and support for the volunteer shelters. 

Overnight volunteers arrive at 7pm, set up the cots, greet the guests who arrive at 8pm by bus, and serve a meal.  Everyone is generally asleep by 10pm, and at 6:30am the next morning a bus picks up the guests. Volunteers are back in their own homes by 7:30. Anyone over the age of 18 can volunteer -- men and women. Children over 13 may volunteer as long as they are accompanied by an adult. At least two volunteers stay overnight at the shelter. More than two volunteers are allowed to stay overnight at the shelter, but only two beds are provided for volunteers. 

A heavy snack and cereal breakfast are provided by Partnership for the Homeless. However, those who can not stay overnight at the shelter may want to volunteer to prepare a more home-cooked type meal for the guests and volunteers and deliver it to the shelter by 7pm. Providing a take-out meal from a local eatery is also acceptable. The meal is for the 10 women plus the overnight volunteers, and any leftovers are sent with the women for lunch the next day. The women greatly appreciate the home-cooked meals at the shelter. 

If you are interested in volunteering at the shelter as an overnight volunteer or by providing a meal, please contact Brian Steadman at . 

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