· Host 3 families (10-12 people) in your building for one week approximately every 12 weeks (about once per quarter) from Sunday, 5:30 p.m. through Sunday, 7:00 a.m.
· Recruit a coordinator responsible for staffing the volunteer schedule during host weeks.
· Provide three separate rooms, one for each family, where beds can be set up. Provide a fourth room where overnight hosts can sleep. Provide a common area for eating. The common area may also have a television with VCR for the families to watch.
· Prepare and serve a nutritious dinner by 6:30 p.m. each night, breakfast prior to 7:00 a.m. each morning, and supplies for guests to make a sack lunch (with beverages and snacks) each day.
· Schedule two evening (5:30-8:30 p.m.) and two overnight (8:30 p.m.-7:00 a.m.) volunteers to host at all times families are on your premises. IHN prefers one male and one female volunteer.
· Provide access to rest rooms (showers are not necessary), with soap and paper products. You may also provide towels (optional).
· Provide transportation to and from the Day Center. [Private cars or congregation van.]
· Secure a vehicle, load it with beds, pillows, etc., and drive it to the next host site on Sunday at a time mutually arranged with the receiving congregation.
· Send a representative to attend quarterly coordinator’s meeting and schedule training sessions.
· Encourage all volunteers to attend IHN-led training.
· Recommend a congregation member to serve on IHN’s board of directors for a three-year term.
· Provide financial support (recommended line item in annual budget) for IHN’s overhead: guest services, day center, and professional staff.
How many volunteers does a week of hosting require?
· 1 primary coordinator (some congregations break this job into food, transportation, and hosting)
· 2 evening hosts (5:30-8:30 p.m.) each night – preferably a male and a female
· 2 overnight hosts (8:30 p.m.-7:00 a.m.) each night – a male and a female
· Dinner/breakfast providers and servers each night and morning
· Drivers/vehicles to transport families from the IHN day center to the host site, and back again
· 3-5 people to unload the truck on Sunday and set up rooms at the start of each host week
· 3-5 people to break down rooms and reload truck on Sunday at the end of each host week
· 2 people to prepare Sunday School rooms for use by the congregation on Sunday morning
· 1 person to wash sheets at the end of host week and store them for the next rotation
What does IHN provide?
· Day Center and equipment, including beds, pillows, blankets [Congregation provides 12 sets of twin sheets for beds, which congregation keeps to use for each rotation.]
· Training and printed materials for all coordinators and volunteers
· Professional screening of all guest families and case management during families’ stay at IHN
· Ongoing support and organization to undergird congregation’s efforts
· Prompt staff response to concerns and emergencies during host week
What does it take to be a SUPPORT CONGREGATION?
A support congregation agrees to be paired with a host congregation to assist during the host’s assigned weeks (once every quarter; 4-5 times per year). Depending on your congregation’s resources and the host congregation’s needs, “support” may consist of any of the following possibilities:
Required:
· Recruit a coordinator to be the liaison between your congregation and the coordinator at the host congregation. The coordinator is responsible for staffing the volunteer schedule during host weeks for the tasks that the support congregation has agreed to do.
· Send a representative to attend quarterly coordinator’s meetings and scheduled training sessions.
· Encourage all volunteers to attend IHN-led training.
· Provide financial support (recommended line item in annual budget) for IHN’s overhead: guest services, day center, and professional staff.
· Recommend a congregation member to serve on IHN’s board of directors for a three-year term.
Negotiated with Host Congregation:
· Prepare and serve one or more of the evening meals during the host week.
· Pick up families at the IHN day center at 5:30 p.m. one or more evenings and/or drive families back to the cay center between 6:00-7:00 a.m. the following morning. [Private cars or congregation van]
· Provide volunteers to serve as evening (5:30-8:30 p.m.) and overnight (8:30 p.m.-7:00 a.m.) hosts.
· Make a financial gift to underwrite the cost of the host week (approximately $250/week). This financial gift may cover the cost of the breakfast or lunch supplies, for example.
· Collect needed supplies, including paper goods, diapers, twin sheets, towels, car seats, and toiletries.
Some support congregations share the week evenly with the host congregation, providing exactly half of the volunteers needed. This arrangement means that the support congregation does all that the host does, except provide the physical space.
Other support congregations take care of one task entirely, for example doing all of the transportation every morning and evening for the whole week; or preparing and serving all seven dinners.
Still others have a variety of tasks, for example dinners on Tuesdays and Thursdays, transportation on Monday and Fridays, and/or overnight hosts on the weekends.
A new support congregation can start small by taking on one evening's tasks, for example, and growing your participation from there.
What is the next step?
· Call the IHN office – 682-2846 – to arrange a meeting and a site visit to see a current host / support congregation team in action.
