Events

Fourth Annual Breakfast with INN Crowd

Fri, Apr 20th, 2012

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Be the change ... and join us for our fourth annual Breakfast with the INN Crowd on April 20, 2012, at the Marriott St. Louis Airport from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Last year, the breakfast and auction raised $50,000 for Room at the Inn. We anticipate a record number in attendance this year, even surpassing last year's attendance of over 320! Tickets will be $35 per person and all proceeds will benefit Room at the Inn.

If you would like to join the planning committee, sponsor the event, or advertise in the program, or if you have an item, service or experience to donate, contact Ana Schulz at 314-209-9181 or aschulz@divineprovidencesisters.org.

To purchase tickets, please contact Colleen Price at 314-209-9181 or cprice@divineprovidencesisters.org. Tickets may also be purchased online by clicking here or in person at our administration offices during regular business hours at Providence Center, 3415 Bridgeland Drive, Bridgeton, MO 63044. (Across from DePaul Hospital).

Summit on Homelessness Engages and Informs

Fri, Sep 9th, 2011

Room at the Inn hosted its first Summit on Homelessness, a panel presentation and discussion, on September 8th at Central Reform Congregation. More than 60 people were in attendance as expert panelists discussed the current state of homelessness in our area, how Room at the Inn fits in, what needs are most crucial, the effects on children and families and how issues of mental health and homeless interrelate.

Panelists included Karen Wallensak, director of Catholic Charities Housing Resource Center; Lesly Jackson, former client and current board member of Room at the Inn and counselor at Harbor Lights; Mike Lamping, program manager for the Multi-systemic Therapy Program at Places for People; and Julie Blanco, program manager with Co-occuring Disorder Services at Places for People.

"Last year in St. Louis County, there were over 4,500 requests from families and individuals (households) to our hotline. Of the 4,576 households that asked for shelter, only 1,193 actually got in. That's 26% - only a quarter of the people who were homeless and had no place to go that night got a bed," Karen said during her presentation. "19% of the families who did get in were at Room at the Inn. You all do a wonderful job of bringing hope to people."

Lesly gave a moving speech where she described the impact the care and compassion of Room at the Inn's volunteers and night sites had in her life. Mike and Julie explained how Places for People's outreach program serves the homeless in St. Louis County with mental illness, addiction and co-occurring disorders.

Following the panelists presentations, there was a question and answer session moderated by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Moore, senior pastor of Webster Groves Christian Church. During the discussion, the panelists stressed the importance of treating the homeless as individuals and with respect. Their advice for volunteers who interact with the homeless clients is to simply ask them what they are comfortable with and what their needs are. The evening ended with a table talk session where attendees interacted with panelists and each other.

We thank our panelists, moderator and everyone in attendance for making the Summit such a success and for providing valuable information, resources and discussion points that we can implement and share in our mission to help the homeless in our community.

If you missed the Summit, you can watch all the presentations on our Vimeo channel by clicking here. Here is the presentation by Karen Wallensak.

Homelessness Summit: Karen Wallensak from Room at the Inn on Vimeo.

To view photos from the Summit, please visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RoomSTL. All photos courtesy of Steve Frazier.

The Dueling Fiddlers Concert

Wed, Jun 22nd, 2011

Thank you to everyone who came to our Dueling Fiddlers concert on June 21 to benefit Room at the Inn. Adam DeGraff and Russell Fallstad put on a fabulous 90-minute show of "violin rock" for the nearly 300 people in attendance. The performance ended with Adam auctioning off a copy of their new, unreleased CD for $500. All of the proceeds from the auction went to Room at the Inn.

We also thank the board members, the staff and the many volunteers who made the evening such a success and for supporting Room at the Inn.