Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Rochester

IHN for short, is a network of volunteers from 49 faith communities who offer food and shelter to families who find themselves homeless.IHN offers these families the basic necessities of life food, shelter and security while they are going through their personal crisis. We give them a chance to regroup, rejuvenate and then get back on their feet with dignity.The network operates 365 days a year and has room for 14 people. Host churches host families for a week at a time. Buddy and support churches supply volunteers to help serve the families.

Families arrive at the host site at 5:00 pm every day. They are served a meal, enjoy some social time then go to sleep. Every family has their own room where they sleep on air mattresses for their beds. They wake up early in the morning, have breakfast and then leave for the Day Center via the IHN van.

The IHN Day Center is the base of operation for families while they search for jobs and permanent housing. The Day Center provides the family with an address and phone number for their applications. The families meet with the Stabilizer Counselor daily to work on their plan to stabilize their family. The children go off to school from the Day Center house; buses pick them up and drop them off at their school.