Ways you can help The Upper Room

SIX ways you can help by working with The Upper Room of Erie

1. Educate Yourself

There are myriad reasons why a person becomes homeless — lack of affordable housing, loss of a job, divorce, illness, substance abuse, domestic abuse, et cetera. One of the first steps you can take toward helping the homeless is trying to understand how they got there in the first place.

2. Show Some Respect

Don't treat a homeless person as if she were invisible. Say, "good morning," when you pass or strike up a conversation on a park bench. Many people experiencing homelessness say that the loss of dignity that accompanies their situation is harder to bear than the actual loss of physical things

3. Donate

This is a big one. As of now (February, 2021) The Upper Room of Erie is loaded with clothes, so please hold off on donating non-winter clothing, at least for this winter. Of course, this does not mean winter coats and winter boots, especially XL, XXL and above sizes. New or nearly new winter boots are always needed too. Frankly, the best donations for the Upper Room during this difficult pandemic time are cash and check, made out to The Upper Room. This may sound impersonal, but we use money to buy coffee, food items, referrals to shelters and other places to stay in out of the cold.

4. Volunteer

The Upper Room needs help organizing clothing and supplies. If you are daring and have the heart, you might be interested in spending an afternoon or morning with our backroom manager, Maureen. And if you’re really daring, feel free to just come in sometime and get to know some of our guests who have suffered really hard breaks in life, or maybe are fighting a drug addition. We always have men and women on staff so you will always be safe.

5. Seek Out Job Opportunities

Encourage your church or community center to hire a homeless person to paint, clean, type, answer phones or any other work that might fit. Many homeless people want to work but can't find regular employment.

6. Advocate

Contact your local scout troops or civic organizations to organize food drives or other fundraising events to raise funds for The Upper Room. Follow local politics and speak up at town council meetings on issues of homelessness and programs for the homeless. Write editorial letters to your local newspaper about the issue of homelessness in your community and what people can do to help

Remember – The Upper Room of Erie is the only Day Shelter open to anyone who needs help in our city and extended area. The Upper Room is a 501c3 tax exempt organization and your donations are deductible.