TRAVERSE CITY -- Seven years ago, one church opened its doors to the homeless community of Traverse City. Due to overwhelming interest, the effort has grown into an organization called Safe Harbor.
7&4's Alana Nehring spoke with Randy Burgess, Director of Missions and Outreach at Faith Reformed Church of Traverse City about the program.
Randy Burgess said, "Safe Harbor is probably one of the most unique programs or ministries of about 24 churches in this area who come together every winter to offer temporary housing for the homeless and the needy in this community. I think it's just uncommon to see churches lay down those issues that may separate us at times to come together to serve such a significant and important community need. Whatever church is hosting at any given time will host for either one or two weeks at a time and make their campus available to people to know where it will be hosted. The doors open every evening at 6 PM. We have a check in process that people go through. If new people come, we do a quick background check and so forth so we truly do want it to be a safe harbor for people to come to. There's always a hot meal that's ready when our guests arrive and so folks will have an opportunity whenever they're ready to get a good night's sleep, a warm night's sleep in a safe place and when they get up in the morning, we'll provide breakfast and any essential needs that we can."
Safe Harbor is dedicated to serving the homeless adults of the Traverse City area, but there are many other organizations that help children and families. For more information on how you can get involved with Safe Harbor, click here.
