Vacancy expired!
Thank you for your interest in the Daytime Warming Center!
The Daytime Warming Center is a grassroots, community-led winter day shelter serving homeless and housing insecure people in Washtenaw County. We have two locations: a fixed site in Ypsilanti and a series of host churches that rotate on a monthly basis in Ann Arbor. We are currently the only day time option for people who need a low barrier, safe, and warm place during the winter.
When the Warming Center first started, there wasn't a consistent place for people experiencing homelessness to go during the day in the winter months. During the 2014 polar vortex, a group of people asked a local church if they could use the basement during the polar vortex, and the church agreed. Since then the warming center has expanded to a handful of churches opening their doors on a rotating basis during the winter months.
In recent years, the Daytime Warming Center has been facilitated by a staffing collective of local residents. The space strives to be democratically run by all who utilize the space, and all are welcome regardless of housing status.
There is not a permanent location in Ann Arbor, and relies on churches to donate their space for periods of time. The last couple of years there has been an Ypsi daytime space run out of the Freighthouse. The DWC tends to interact with local community groups and volunteers, rather than the official orgs within the County. The DWC relies on local community groups for monetary donations and in-kind donations.
The Job
It is a part-time (10-20 hours/ week) position, $18/hour, located in both Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. Because of our limited funding, we don't have any benefits. The job is seasonal from mid November to the end of April. We are a worker collective, so there's no boss (except the guests), but we all evaluate each other. The job is mostly to staff the Daytime Warming Center, to make sure there's food and coffee, to build rapport and break up fights, to facilitate the democratically run space, and to welcome and train volunteers. It also includes attending a weekly meeting, keeping up on a chat in the Signal App, doing some administrative work, pitching in on fundraising, and helping with the many tasks that help the org run.
Application here: https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/PiboLIK2orx-pbYWHHZ7QDLJ-2e9vHWbdRZ2brPbmz4/
Application closes September 24 and we will reach out to you by October 1
