For Vickey Carter-Ivory, volunteering with the Rotating Shelter was personal. For one week in March, she was at her church before dawn each day to prepare a hot breakfast for a group of unhoused women who were staying in the building. But the 4:00 a.m. wake-ups were worth it.
“I was homeless for three years. I remember how it felt. I felt alone and that people didn’t understand and nobody cared. I wanted to make our guests feel special. I wanted them to know that being homeless is not the end– it’s not a permanent situation.”
The Rotating Shelter is a partnership between
Cass Community Social Services and local churches, which volunteer to host unhoused Detroiters for one week each year. Individuals are transported by bus from CCSS to the church each evening, where the congregation provides dinner and a place to sleep. Breakfast and a bagged lunch are supplied before being bused back in the morning. Many churches also add their own touches.
Thasha Murphy has coordinated the Rotating Shelter for New Beginnings Fellowship on Plymouth and Hubbell for over 10 years. “It has been our tradition to not just feed the guests– some call them homeless people, but I call them guests– but to give them a spiritual word and activities.”
During a recent week, the nine women hosted by the congregation joined church members to create vision boards, enjoy a movie night, receive facials, and play card games. In past years, the church has also hosted groups of men or families.
The Rotating Shelter is a small-scale contribution to battling the growing problem of homelessness in Detroit. A recent count by Homeless Action Network of Detroit located
1,725 people sleeping on the streets or in abandoned buildings or cars on a single night in January 2024, up 16% from the previous year. The city’s Coordinated Assessment Model, which is the initial access point for people seeking emergency shelter, fields
8,000 intakes a year.
With a continuum of services which include emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing apartments, Cass Community Social Services has provided shelter for vulnerable Detroiters since its establishment in 2002.
Rev. Faith Fowler, executive director of Cass Community Social Services, encourages faith communities to see themselves as part of the solution to homelessness in the city. “We are desperate for more churches to participate. I sent out an email last year to area clergy saying, ‘Look, there hasn’t been an empty bed in three months– could you, would you?’
“No one church could do it alone, and yet by many churches coming together we are able to free up beds and practice hospitality, which is part of religion," says Fowler. "It also gives a chance for a nonprofit and faith communities to work together. Most of what we do as a nonprofit isn’t religious per se but human.”
Cass Community Social Services created the Rotating Shelter in 1988 out of a realization that there were not enough shelter beds available in the city. At its peak, 15-20 churches per year in the city and suburbs opened their doors to participate for one week between November and March of each year. Covid shut the program for a few years. It re-launched in 2023 with five congregations participating, including Northville, Plymouth, and Grosse Pointe United Methodist Churches, New Beginnings Fellowship, and St. Fabian Catholic Church. This year, seven churches participated, and CCSS is planning for nine next year.
Still, many more organizations are needed to participate in the Rotating Shelter. Rev. Fowler invites faith communities to contact the agency to hear more about how to host.
“There are so many problems that are global or huge that we can’t fix. This one we can," she says "The key to unsheltered folks is making sure they have a safe roof or walls and a shower.”
This story is part of the Nonprofit Journal Project, an initiative focused on nonprofit leaders and programs across Metro Detroit. This series is made possible with the generous support of our partners, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, Michigan Nonprofit Association and Co.act Detroit.
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