Out of the Cold
The Beth Sholom/Beth Tzedec Out of the Cold Shelter is our response to hunger and homelessness in our city. Over the course of a twelve-week period beginning on Tuesday January 3rd, until March 21st, 2017, our Shelter will serve over 2,000 dinners, provide 1,500 bagged lunches, a warm place for 660 people to sleep, a hot breakfast, as well as distribute hundreds of pieces of clothing.
Our Shelter has succeeded in creating a warm environment for our guests in more ways than one. We are known for our friendly and caring volunteers, the fact that we serve our guests dinner, (rather than having them line up), on white tablecloths, and have live musical entertainment while they enjoy their meal.
The distribution of warm clothing is one of the most essential services we provide to our guests. It can make the difference in their survival on the streets during our harsh winters. We encourage clothing drives, and request donations from the community and the clothing industry.
Please note that we only accept the following items, and they must be in adult sizes and in new or nearly new condition: down coats, ski jackets, parkas, snow pants, sweaters, hoodies, sweatshirts, sweat pants, blue jeans, corduroy pants, winter boots, hiking boots and running shoes.
Our art program, The Art Circle, has empowered many of those who use our services. Our guests work on their paintings and drawings for two hours every Tuesday night after dinner, under the guidance of our experienced volunteer staff. At the end of the season we have our annual Out of the Cold Art Sale and Fundraiser that showcase’s our artists’ works. For many of the artists it is the highlight of their year. The 2016 Art Sale set records for the numbers of attendees, (400), and the money received by our artists
We continue to search for ways to improve the quality of life of our guests. This past year we teamed up with The Centre for Mindfulness Studies, and started a mindfulness group that focused on stress reduction..
The heart of our Shelter is our volunteers, without whom we could not operate.
If you would like to volunteer please click on Register to Volunteer at the top right of this page.
If you have questions please contact us at: ootcbsbt@gmail.com
We look forward to volunteering with you,
Rafi Aaron and Maureen Tanz
Co-chairs Beth Sholom/Beth Tzedec Out of the Cold