ightwatch
OPERATION
Annual Report, 2008
p. 2
partner with Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing as a clinical site where nursing students do their mental health rotation with us. And of the several churches that dependably dispatch volunteer groups, a special commendation must go to Riverside United Church of Christ, which monthly sends people to serve with us all the way from Hood River.
This year we also became the supervisory site for two diaconal candidates for the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, Jeff Ripp and Tim Shamrell. In addition to serving each week at the Hospitality Center, Jeff and Tim engage in spiritual reflection over their Nightwatch experience under my supervision.
This year we also became the supervisory site for two diaconal candidates for the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, Jeff Ripp and Tim Shamrell. In addition to serving each week at the Hospitality Center, Jeff and Tim engage in spiritual reflection over their Nightwatch experience under my supervision.
Totaling all the volunteer help, it amounted to an astounding average of 569 volunteer-hours per month contributed in 2009.
In turn, we have sought to provide greater support for our volunteers. On four occasions, we offered Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training, which teaches how to identify and de-escalate potential crisis situations and how to intervene with a person who is acting-out so that no one gets hurt.
In turn, we have sought to provide greater support for our volunteers. On four occasions, we offered Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training, which teaches how to identify and de-escalate potential crisis situations and how to intervene with a person who is acting-out so that no one gets hurt.
In addition to the contributions from our volunteers, our work would hardly be what it is without a continuingly flowing pipeline of in-kind support. Practically everything we distribute to or guests—coffee, sandwiches, blankets, socks, clothing—comes to us because it is directly donated.
Our spreadsheet of in-kind donations goes on for pages. Most of those who give are individuals and churches. However, several particular businesses stand out as contributors, both for the amounts they contribute and for the regularity by which they contribute it. Kobos Coffee continues to donate all our coffee. Flying Elephant’s Deli in Lake Oswego, which weekly began giving us food last year, has been equally faithful this year, allowing us to serve a mountain of sandwiches, salads, and desserts to our Saturday evening guests. This year, we have established similar relationships with a couple of other vendors. The Global Nucleus Café at Oregon Health and Science University gives us boxes filled with healthy ethnic food every Friday night. St. Honoré’s Boulangerie in Lake Oswego also sends us sandwiches and breads every Friday. Both in quantity and quality, the food we serve at Nightwatch makes our guests some of the best-fed people in town!