Who We Are

We are a group of volunteers who has chosen to give one night each month to make life a bit pleasanter for twelve homeless men and women.
We are the whole range of New Yorkers, young, old, and in-between. We are artists, actors and musicians, students, teachers and social workers, stock brokers and investment bankers, lawyers and judges. Some of us are Quakers; many of us are not. What we have in common is the wish to help in a direct and positive way.

What We Do

We provide shelter and hospitality for twelve homeless people at the Friends Meeting House in Manhattan. The shelter is open seven days a week, every day of the year. All of our homeless guests are referred to us by the Neighborhood Coalition for Homeless People, a drop-in center on the Upper East Side. The Neighborhood Coalition provides many services including screening our guests for drugs, alcohol and tuberculosis. Two of our volunteers arrive at 8:00pm to set up the cots and a refreshment table. Our guests arrive by bus from the drop-in center at around 8:30pm. Lights are out at 10pm. Wake up time is at 6, when we set out a light breakfast. The bus comes to pick up our guests at a little before 7, giving us time to store the cots, tidy up and leave in time to go to work or to whatever we do in our daily lives.

Training

All of our volunteers participate in a simple training that lasts about 90 minutes. The on-site training is not an education in social work, but a hands-on tour of the facilities: e.g. Where is the peanut butter? We set out the beds and food, talk about the nightly routine, mention briefly the Quaker philosophy of the equality and dignity of all people, and greet the guests when the bus arrives. We encourage our new trainees to sign up for their first night at the shelter, which is always with an experienced volunteer.

History

Late in 1982, a small group of Quakers, concerned about the growing problem of homelessness in New York City, began to discuss a way to provide shelter to homeless people. Fifteenth Street Meeting of the Society of Friends approved a plan and our shelter opened in April 1983. Churches and synagogues all over the city were devising their own ways of contributing, and a network under the auspices of the city and in contract with the Partnership for the Homeless was started. We are part of that network. Our shelter has continued growing so we now shelter twelve people and we open every night of the year, every night that we have two volunteers willing to come and sleep with us.

Where We Are

The Friends Shelter is located at 15 Rutherford Place in New York City. Rutherford Place, between Second and Third Avenue is a short two-block street that runs from 15th Street to 17th Street. To get there, take a subway to Union Square and walk three blocks east to Rutherford Place. 15 Rutherford Place is not only home to the shelter but to many Quaker groups and institutions, including Friends Seminary, a well-known private K –12 school, the 15th Street Monthly Meeting and the American Friends Service Committee. (map)

Donations

Monetary contributions are always welcome and help us to purchase new coffeepots, tablecloths, and other necessary items, which through nightly use receive a lot of wear and tear. Checks can be made out to 15th Street Meeting with Shelter written in the memo section, and mailed to our clerk (Quaker for chair), Sylvia Friedman, 210 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003.

Unfortunately we are not able to take donations such as clothing or food as our space is very limited.

Contact

For more information or to become a volunteer, please call or e-mail any of us:

Sylvia Friedman
212 673-8316
SMFon15th@aol.com

Katy Homans
212 352-0957
katy@katyhomans.com

Joel Van Liew
917-841-4377
jvanliew@rocketmail.com

Carol Kuzmyak
917 408-5310
kuzy@mindspring.com