Directors: Bill Perkins
Location: Saturday -- First & Center Presbyterian Church (8:00 -- 11:30 AM)
                Sunday --   Trinity Episcopal Church (8:00 AM -- 3:00 PM)
                                  West Presbyterian Church (3:00 -- 5:00 PM)

This 14th season of winter weekend hospitality saw an increase in the number of homeless men and women seeking sanctuary at the various hospitality centers. Saturday morning hospitality at First & Central averaged 85 homeless guests. Each Sunday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Trinity Episcopal Church allowed Friendship House to host more than 70 persons in the church’s A.A. meeting room. Late afternoon sanctuary at West Presbyterian Church averaged nearly 60 homeless clients per Sunday.

Although majority of the weekend clients remain homeless street men , there was a significant increase in the number weekend women clients. Besides providing sanctuary from the elements and a hot cup of coffee, the church volunteers, who have made a monthly commitment to the ministry, create a communal presence that gives folks the sense of being welcomed by the church and not simply being given sanctuary in a church.

Staff: Bill Perkins (Wilmington), Marc Marcus (Newark)
Location: Wilmington – Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew & Matthew
                                      Old Asbury United Methodist Church
                      Newark – Newark United Methodist Church
                                      Newark United Church of Christ
                                      Calvary Baptist Church
                                      Holy Family Roman Catholic Church
                                      Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark

For the past three winters Friendship House has expanded its night-time sanctuary program to include "Code Purple" night sanctuary in Wilmington and Newark. In Delaware, Code Purple weather is understood to be whenever the night-time wind chill factor falls below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. While every winter night is a hardship for those without proper clothing, shelter and warmth, there are at least a dozen times each winter when the weather is so severe that extended exposure to the elements will prove deadly. On such nights the typical survival strategies of those homeless men and women who refuse to stay in emergency shelters prove inadequate and people die.

On Code Purple nights in Wilmington, Friendship House offered emergency sanctuary to the chronically homeless at the Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew and Matthew. The shelter was opened 3:00 P.M. (after the FH Day center closed for the day) and closed at 9:00 P.M. (when the Salvation Army Code Purple night shelter opened for the night). Staffed by Bill Perkins and volunteers from Westminster Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew & Matthew, Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church, Cornerstone United Methodist Church, Redeemed Christian Church of God Abundant Life Center, St. Andrew’s School and the Wilmington Rotary, the evening sanctuary served 80 – 100 chronically homeless men and women each evening. The volunteers provided soup and sandwiches; Friendship House provided the hot beverages, paper and cleaning products.

On Code Purple nights in Newark, Friendship House and a coalition of eight Newark faith communities offered emergency sanctuary from dusk to dawn. Five local churches served as the host site on a rotating basis. Team of volunteers from local faith communities and community organizations offered hospitality to homeless guests in a church common room with access to bathrooms, a light evening meal, hot beverages and blankets. The goal was not to create an alternative shelter, but to keep people from freezing and convince them of the need to get into an emergency winter shelter within the next 24 hours. In the morning, guests were provided with a light breakfast and bus tickets, met with Marc Marcus to plan out their day, and were encouraged to seek emergency shelter through Friendship House in Wilmington. During the winter of 2009 -- 2010, Code Purple was declared on 36 nights in Wilmington and 28 nights in Newark. The Wilmington sanctuary served 557 unduplicated homeless clients and averaged 97 homeless guests per night. In Newark, Code Purple Sanctuary served 45 unduplicated clients and averaged 8 clients per night. More than 250 individuals and families from fifteen different faith communities volunteered at least one night in either Wilmington or Newark.