Room at the Inn History

Room at the Inn started with a really simple and brilliant idea: make use of unused space in churches to provide temporary shelter to homeless families. Makes sense, right? The first shelter with this kind of structure (that we know of) was in Nashville, Tennessee. The concept reached St. Louis in 1988. That’s when a coalition of churches – and their awesome volunteers – began providing housing for Salvation Army clients on weekends and during the winter. We modeled our shelter on others in the Interfaith Hospitality Network, many of which are also named Room at the Inn.

In 1992, enough congregations stepped up to the plate so that Room at the Inn was able to provide shelter year-round. (They were helped with a grant from the St. Louis County Department of Human Services and Housing Resources Commission.) The Sisters of Divine Providence provided space in their provincial house, Mount Providence, in Normandy. The following year, the Sisters made a commitment to become the permanent sponsors of Room at the Inn. They continue to donate the space, utilities and professional services for the shelter.

In 1999, Room at the Inn moved to their present location in Bridgeton, in a building shared with the Sisters of Divine Providence administrative offices.