The sign at Rising Hope Mission Church.
Last week, as people baked in a suffocating heat wave, Kameron Wilds found a shirtless gentleman in his 60s, keeled over with his head almost touching the scorching blacktop and going in and out of alertness. He had adhesive patches on his chest where hospital monitors had been attached.
Wilds, pastor at Rising Hope Mission Church just off U.S. 1, invited the man to get in the bus that Wilds drives every Sunday to take churchgoers home. Wilds asked, “Do you still have shelter?” “A few more days,” the man answered.
“This heat will kill you. You can’t stay out here,” Wilds told him.
In an interview, Wilds said, “We see that all the time. This is what happens when you run out of options.”
“This heat will kill you. You can’t stay out here.”
— Rev. Kameron Wilds
New Cooling Center
On July 15, Rising Hope opened a new, year-round, drop-in center at the church at 8220 Russell Road. From 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Monday through Friday people can go there to escape the weather and generally hang out, sit in a chair, take a nap, interact with staff and volunteers, get snacks and play board games.
When Fairfax County announces an emergency heat day, the county typically offers public buildings to people, places like libraries and schools, Wilds explained. These measures are helpful, but the facilities are not staffed to provide support services.
“They are not welcoming,” Wilds said. “Someone who’s been sweating outside for three days likely has poor hygiene. When they arrive at a government building with all their belongings, they worry about how they will be perceived,” he says. “Rising Hope has created a space of dignity. We say, ‘This space is for you.’”
Except for the Eleanor Kennedy Shelter at 9155 Richmond Highway, the church’s drop-in will be the only drop-in place available during the week in southeastern Fairfax County.
Wilds elaborates, “While they are here, we can offer them dignity, community and access to resources. It’s not just about getting out of the heat. It’s about finding community and finding resources to assist them along the way.” Wilds expects to see between 40 to 50 folks a day.
Rising Hope helps people experiencing homelessness and poverty, by also serving lunch to around 50 people a day and providing food to more than 300 families a week from their market. Staff and volunteers help people access services, like housing and health care.
A recent grant will also enable Rising Hope to help nearly 100 families stay in their homes through rent and utility relief and support a new staffer to handle emergency services, particularly focusing on the continuum of care post-emergency.
Wilds recently wrote, “This and many other byproducts of homelessness need not and should not be in a country like ours and yet, as a recent SCOTUS decision has demonstrated, the realities only seem to be getting harder.” He was referencing the June 28 U.S. Supreme Court decision that decided it is constitutional to arrest or fine homeless people for sleeping in public spaces when no shelter space is available.
“The solution to homelessness isn’t criminalization for being without shelter,” Wilds wrote to supporters last week. “It’s options of affordable housing coupled with robust touch points along the continuum of care. The poor are not problems. The poor are people experiencing the problems of a society whose main objective is always increasing the bottom line.”
To Help
Rising Hope welcomes donations and volunteers to interact with their congregants, help them find services and other tasks. Visit www.risinghopeumc.org.