WILLIAMSBURG — Community of Faith Mission, a local faith-based nonprofit, is gearing up for its annual emergency shelter program for 2025-26, set to begin this weekend.
The emergency shelter program serves those experiencing homelessness in the greater Williamsburg community during the coldest months of the year. The group works in conjunction with congregations throughout the area to offer weekly shelter and meals from mid-November through mid-March.
Each week, the shelter is open from 6:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. and can accommodate a maximum of 25 people each night. While at the shelter, guests also receive food, toiletry items, compassion, referrals to community agencies and other resources.
The group was established in 2012 to address the urgent need for assistance to individuals experiencing homelessness in the area. That year, COFM offered shelter for 12 weeks. By the second year, the shelter season expanded to the current 18-week schedule.
Donnie, a staff member at COFM, explained the growing need for a shelter program.
“The image of a homeless person these days is not the guy laying on a park bench, covered in newspaper to keep warm. Many of our guests work, they just can’t afford the housing. Some of them may have gotten sick, and couldn’t work, so they couldn’t afford their homes. Many of them have nicer clothes than I do,” Donnie said.
The first week of shelter will take place Nov. 9-16 at St. John Baptist Church on Penniman Road. Once open for the season, various other churches in different locations in Williamsburg will host the shelter each week.
The full shelter schedule is available on the COFM website.
The staff at COFM is always looking to add more partners and host sites for the shelter. A host site is a large facility, usually a church, with the capacity to accommodate up to 25 guests per night during the program. The congregation of the host site transforms the church into a shelter for the week, unloads COFM’s “GodPod” trailer, preps and serves meals and assists shelter managers with their tasks.
According to the COFM website, partners are congregations from churches that collaborate with COFM as vital supporters. Partner church and group congregants work with the host sites to ensure guests receive shelter each night of the week. The volunteers play a crucial role in shelter operations, including covering three different shifts, meal preparation and serving, nightly check-in assistance and heartfelt interaction with guests.
For the 2025-26 shelter program, COFM is in need of two more host sites to fill the weeks of Nov. 23-30 and Dec. 28-Jan. 4. Interested churches and partner organizations can contact Donnie through the COFM website.
As the shelter season begins for 2025-26, Donnie is hopeful to continue being a resource and helping more people find permanent housing in the area.
“We are really just trying to help give them a sense of purpose at our shelter,” Donnie said.
For more information or to donate to COFM, visit cofm.info.