During the winter months of December through February, FH opens every Saturday morning at First & Central Presbyterian Church for hospitality to create a space for people in Wilmington to visit. This makes it so FH does morning hospitality 7 days a week, as we are open year-round Sunday morning for a grab-n-go breakfast at our Wilmington Empowerment Center located at Sts. Andrew and Matthew Episcopal Church. Hospitality is an important part of our Empowerment Center programming. It includes basic things like coffee, water, and access to a bathroom. It also includes another critical item: community. Hospitality at any FH location is sometimes the only time during the day a person will feel accepted and someone is happy to see them enter the door.
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To a person living on the street or at a shelter in Wilmington, there are very few options on weekends as many coffee shops and places of business are closed. Libraries and other public places are also closed in the early mornings when the temperatures are the coldest. Folks staying in a shelter often need to be out by 7:00 am. In late December and early January especially, it is still dark at 7 am – and the hour before dawn is often the coldest hour of the day. FH fills the gap by opening for coffee and breakfast, creating a brief but needed safe haven for people experiencing homelessness and houselessness.
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We’re grateful for our partnership with First & Central Presbyterian Church to make this possible!