No one among those church volunteers on a cold night during the winter of 1987 knew how it would turn out. They were preparing food and setting up cots and organizing for a group of homeless people who would spend the night in the small, sparsely furnished parish hall. At seven o’clock, the doors opened, and men, women, and several children got ready to spend the next 12 hours in a warm, safe place.
It was a simple plan coordinated by a local nonprofit organization and involving several Prince William County, Va., churches. Beginning on a Sunday night, one church would host the shelter for one week, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. At the end of the week, volunteers from that church would bring supplies — cots, bedding, cooking equipment, and other items to the next church hosting the shelter. There were enough churches and enough turns to last through the winter of that year. Back then, there were no other shelters to house the homeless.
