LATEST NEWS

YOU can make a difference in central Ohio by donating to Match Madness. NOW through April 7th, we need YOU to help us raise $15,000 to triple a $5,000 pledge made by a loyal couple who have supported us for years. Match Madness is about helping others, like AnnMarie, who, through our help, was able to get out… Read more: MATCH MADNESS IS ABOUT HELPING OTHERS

We are so grateful for Tom & Veronica Garrity and EVERYONE with the Our Lady of Peace Church Open Shelter Support Group for providing love, care, and support for those we serve for decades.. They serve a delicious hot meal every month, help us make holidays brighter, and come through with urgent needs for our… Read more: OUR LADY OF PEACE PROVIDES DECADES OF SERVICE

The Open Shelter is grateful for loyal, caring partners like Stone Village Church! For many years, Rev. John Wooden and the community at Stone Village have been so loving and helpful with sack lunches and donations of much-needed items like sleeping bags for those we serve. They also have helped us with our Holiday Events!… Read more: STONE VILLAGE COMES THROUGH FOR OUR COMMUNITY

The Open Shelter & YOU assisted 2,658 homeless and marginally-housed persons in 2024; 871 of whom were “living on the streets”.  57,122 sack lunches and 119,015 ‘to-go’ meals were provided.  33 men and women participated in our “Payeeship” program, which helps homeless and recently homeless persons who need third-party money management.  1,379 instances of outdoor item assistance were… Read more: The Open Shelter Was OPEN In 2024 Thanks To YOU!

The Open Shelter would like to thank the Church of The Messiah, United Methodist of Westerville, Ohio for their decades of support, commitment, devotion, compassion, loyalty, and love to our mission and those we serve. Church of The Messiah members have helped us in many ways, from providing gifts for our Christmas program through their… Read more: Many Thanks To Church Of The Messiah!

The Open Shelter and those we serve were blessed! Thanks to St. Andrew & St. Agatha Church, we were able to provide a nourishing and delicious Holiday Meal for over 250 homeless and marginally housed men, women & children and also some special guests we invited! We were also able to make Christmas bright and… Read more: YOU Made Christmas Bright!

The Holidays can be a joyous time for many but can also be stressful and even depressing for some, especially those we serve. We talked to a few of our guests and one of our longtime volunteers to understand what the Holidays mean to them. “Family and celebrations. Some are happy, some are sad. Some… Read more: WHAT DO THE HOLIDAYS MEAN TO YOU?

“I am from Venezuela. We left there because the economic crisis is bad. There is no work or food. I came through the jungles of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico. In Mexico, I got on a train. I jumped the mesh fence into Texas to surrender to immigration.” “I was happy because I had… Read more: Marieliz’s Journey

THANK YOU, ENTERPRISE MOBILITY! The Open Shelter would like to give a HUGE, heartfelt THANK YOU to Enterprise Mobility for being such wonderful supporters of our mission, “Staying Behind With Those Left Behind.” Through the Enterprise Mobility Stronger Together Employee Giving Campaign, Enterprise Mobility team members have made significant contributions to our grassroots efforts of… Read more: Thank You, Enterprise Mobilty!

The Open Shelter has an August Match Mania Update…and it’s a wonderful one! YOU not only met the $5000 match, but you blew by it!!!!! There are probably still donations coming in, but as of right now— a total of $13,123.00 has been raised!!! That means The Open Shelter gets a $5000 gift promised by a loyal donor of… Read more: YOU MET THE MATCH!!!