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Shelter Celebrates 10 Years
For a decade, Virginia Wesleyan's winter shelter has served the community, challenged perceptions of homelessness
By Stephanie Smaglo and Leona Baker | January 12, 2016
Photo Gallery: Celebrating 10 Years of Shelter
It's day two of the 10th annual Winter Homeless Shelter (Jan. 10-17) on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College. More than 60 guests and just as many volunteers—made up entirely of VWC students, alumni, faculty and staff—fill the CMAC gymnasium inside the Jane P. Batten Student Center with activity and conversation.
Each night of the shelter carries a different theme. One night it's spa and health. Another night it's bingo and board games. Tonight happens to be football tailgate. The national championship plays on TV as guests enjoy pizza donated by Eli Miller ’00, owner of Brothers Pizza.
For a decade, Virginia Wesleyan's On-Campus Winter Homeless Shelter has offered safety and comfort for homeless men and women during one of the coldest months of the year. It is one of the only shelters of its kind operated on a college campus in the United States, serving approximately 60 guests per night with the help of around 150 volunteers.
It was established in 2007 by former VWC students Felecia Kiser and Nuni Rae ’09 (pictured) in partnership with the Portsmouth Volunteers for the Homeless.
"I initially thought it was a cool thing to do," Kiser said in 2011. "But I also thought: Why? Any church can give them shelter. We just do it so much differently."
The difference, Kiser and hundreds of other shelter volunteers and guests have found, is in the personal touches and human interactions. It is a tangible opportunity for students and other volunteers to come face to face with the human toll of homelessness, to make meaningful connections with guests.
"It was born out of compassion and sustained out of compassion,” says VWC Director of Community Service Diane Hotaling. “It's a beautiful thing."
Many volunteers express their feelings about this beautiful experience in reflection journals placed throughout the shelter.
“Our guests truly amaze and inspire me," one volunteer wrote. "Although they live on the generosity of others, they have a never-ending supply of hope and joy. I wish we could all view life with the same appreciation as these folks, because we would learn so much about loving others."
The shelter takes place during the College's Winter Session term and is tied in with an academic course on the issue of homelessness in America. The experience provides a unique opportunity for students to break down social barriers and look beyond stereotypes.
“From a sociological perspective, we really want our students to learn what’s behind the statistics and what can get easily lost in the classroom,” VWC Professor of Sociology Kathy Stolley says in the 2014 documentary, Winter Shelter, On Campus. “Behind all those statistics are people with real lives and real circumstances that have real stories to tell.”
Stolley also emphasizes the transferable skills students gain through their experience with the shelter, including leadership and project management abilities, organizational skills and the ability to work and communicate with diverse populations.
The shelter has led to many additional academic undertakings, including undergraduate research and Honors and Scholars projects, articles in professional journals, and faculty presentations at national conferences. It has also earned a Hampton Roads VOLUNTEER Achievement Award in the Community Groups category, as well as a Birdsong Community Achievement Award and Volunteer of the Year Award for student co-founder Felecia Kiser.
Finally, in keeping with the College’s Wesleyan heritage, the shelter encourages VWC students to become engaged citizens who care about their community in active ways.
“The liberal arts attitude toward learning is characterized by an open and eager mind,” says Diane Hotaling. “The Wesleyan Winter Homeless Shelter becomes the quintessential liberal arts experience by allowing us to respect different points of view, push our comfort zones, and increase our understanding of the world around us and our role in it.”
Since the shelter’s inception, Portsmouth Volunteers for the Homeless has helped nearly 350 guests attain permanent or transitional housing and more than 1,500 VWC students, staff, faculty, and alumni volunteers see the condition of homelessness differently.
Guests are bussed onto campus each night from the city of Portsmouth, Virginia. The shelter is not open to the general public.