Returning for Winter 2022
Update: Monday, February 14 was the last evening of the Rockford Overnight Café for the season. The Rockford Overnight Café kept our most vulnerable citizens out of the coldest winter nights this year. We served over 160 people averaging about 40 people per night. They had a warm meal, played cards, watched movies and sports, took showers, did laundry and got much needed rest. This is all because of your generosity and donations. Thank you, Rockford!
The Rockford Overnight Cafe will being operation on January 4. The “Cafe” is a warm, well-lit and fully-supervised gym with tables and chairs, movies and cards, coffee and hot chocolate. It is not the place you would want to spend a night, but if the heat goes out or the fuel burns up, come our way!
If you would like to help out in any way consider donating a meal or sleeping bags, socks, underwear all sizes. A helpful contribution is milk or water for breakfast bowls is great also, so our guests can have a warm meal as they go out each morning.
Another great way to support this program is to give us your prayers. Pray for the staff working with the guests and the guests themselves. Each one has a story that makes them unique. Contact Pastor Becky for more information.
About the Rockford Overnight Cafe
In 2018 we launched the pilot program of the Rockford Overnight Cafe in the gym at SecondFirst Church with the premise of keeping unhoused people safe during sub-zero nights. At the Overnight Cafe, unhoused guests (and others needing warmth) are met with food, clean and warm clothing, and shower and laundry facilities. They spend the night playing cards, watching movies, and talking to others. Guests are treated with respect throughout their stay in an effort to restore their dignity and build rapport. Every year since, the Rockford Overnight cafe has open nightly for ten weeks and certainly helped keep people from being injured or even dying in frigid temperatures.