There are many emotions that bombard us as the beginning of the season approaches but excitement supersedes them all! We love being able to provide a safe sanctuary for those with no place to call home. We do depend on the community to help us achieve our goals for the winter so we are here to update you as well as ask for further assistance.

We will be opening up for ON CALL nights starting November 25th. We are still waiting on some supplies to be delivered. We also still need the community to donate all the items found on this list. Donation PDF  The addition of four new shelters has added to the amount of donations that we need. We are a non-profit, volunteer run organization therefore everything that we receive goes straight to the needs of those we serve. We do have a donation coordinator this year. Yay! You can reach Amanda Mitchell at codepurplesussexcounty@gmail.com or call 302-632-8180.

We also have A LOT of spots to fill on the sign up calendar for each site. We had eight training events but we know not everyone was able to make it to one. If you still want to volunteer, then please fill out a volunteer form here Volunteer Form and it will be sent to us via email. We will also provide you with on the job training. We are in desperate need of overnight volunteers. That is the one spot that we have to fill or we will not open the shelter. Please consider staying once a week or once every other week. We have our Bring a Buddy Challenge. You can read all about that here Bring a Buddy Challenge. This makes it possible for everyone to have a partner to stay with and helps alleviate some fears that volunteers may have when they first start helping. Here is the link to our handy dandy sign up calendars all divided up by towns. Volunteer Sign Up Calendars

Our Director, Nikki, would love to come and speak to your church or organization so they can hear how Code Purple changes lives as well as how they can become involved in being a part of that change. Please email us with any further questions at codepurplesussexcounty@gmail.com. We can not do it without your help! Please spread the word and also consider being apart of our ministry. Trust us, you will be the one blessed.

The Code Purple Sussex County Team!

We are very busy cleaning, sorting, arranging, meeting, and setting up for the new season! The addition of four new sites has been a huge blessing! We will be able to serve more guests this winter which means Code Purple needs more help from YOU in the community! Remember, we are a 100% volunteer and donation based ministry that wouldn’t be possible without your help. We have several different opportunities for you to attend a training before the start of the Code Purple season. (You must attend a training in order to help at any of our locations. Each training will teach the same information so you only need to complete it one time.) Please click on one of the Face Book event links below to let us know which one you will be attending. Can’t wait to see you there!!

October 15th
Bridgeville Training

October 20th
Delmar Training

October 22nd
Georgetown Training

October 24th
Milford Training

October 29th
Laurel Training #1

November 1st
Seaford Training

November 5th
Bethany Training

November 6th
Laurel Training #2

We are excited to announce another partnership! Georgetown Presbyterian will come under our umbrella during the Code Purple season! They have been operating a successful shelter for 15 years and it just made sense to partner with them. They will continue to run an Emergency shelter as needed during the rest of the year. It’s a win win for the people of Sussex County.

This new endeavor will need the help of the community. They need overnight and morning relief volunteers. We know that there are many in the area that will be willing to help us make this a successful Code Purple season in Georgetown. We are unable to serve dinner at the Georgetown Presbyterian site, so we are looking for another church to partner with us. One that will allow us the use of space to be able to provide a meal each night for our guests.

Georgetown Presbyterian Church
203 N Bedford Street, Georgetown, DE 19947

Check-in 9pm except Saturdays at 10pm. Check-out 8am.
Men and Women

We are pleased to announce that Renovate Church in Delmar will be joining the ministry! They will host a Code Purple Sussex County site for men! They have already been working with the local people experiencing homelessness. It is a natural fit to have them join us.

Please remember the more sites we make available, it will enable us to help more people in distress during the winter. However, these sites are not able to run without willing volunteers to commit to serving with us! There will be training available soon.

Keep an eye out for more announcements coming shortly! 

We are so excited to announce that we will be opening a new site for ladies. Milford Church of the Nazarene has graciously invited us to host Code Purple in their sanctuary this winter!

We will be updating all of our information to include this new resource available to help those without a safe place to sleep. Please consider how you can help this sanctuary blossom in its love for our guests. We will need volunteers willing to do many various jobs during the season. We can not do it without your support!

Milford Church of the Nazarene
11 Salevan Pl
Milford, DE 19963

http://www.milfordnazarene.com/

We are so excited to be preparing for our upcoming season! It seems like the last four years has flown by and here we are heading into our 5th season. We are so thankful for the last four winters of being able to shelter our guests. Not only have we been able to provide shelter but we have also made many friends, learned new things, and have gleaned from the Lord on how to love better. We now get to see what God has in store for this year. Please don’t miss out if you feel like you have a part in this mission. Join us on our journey to touch people’s lives with the love of Jesus.

Our ministry is growing each year. We hope to add two new shelters this coming winter. We need people to serve alongside us! We have a list of areas where you can help.

1. Overnight volunteers. (Staying overnight with our guests ensures a peaceful night of rest for all.  Duties include checking bags into totes and making sure chores are done. We would love to have 14 people commit to staying once every other week per shelter. That would be a huge help over the skeleton crew that we ran last season.)
2. Provide dinners. (Dinner includes the main dish, bread, and a dessert or veggie if you wish. In the past, most have also brought tea, milk, or soft drinks. Please invite your family and friends to assist you with this. Also, service groups will receive service hours for this, just let us know so we can sign off on the hour sheets or write a letter.)
3. Dinner coordinator for the CROSS building. (This is where our Seaford and Bridgeville guests eat before being taken to their shelter for the night.)
4. Transportation to and from shelters. (Transporting our guest from the dinner spot to the appropriate shelter. Seaford and Milford)
5. Intake Workers. (This job includes set up for intake, duties to include: intake form completion, boundaries sign off, and guests bags checked in to the appropriate spot.)
6. Laundry Coordinator for Seaford/Bridgeville shelters. (We have a lot of laundry when it comes to Code Purple. And we need help getting it done. We have found that people don’t mind doing a load or two as their contribution but can’t handle the full load. There are plenty of people who want to help; we just need a coordinator who can connect the need to the logistics on filling the need. A love of doing laundry won’t hurt either.)
7. Volunteer Coordinator **Seaford Men/Bridgeville Women/Milford Men+?** (This job can be split. One person for scheduling overnight volunteers, ensuring there is always someone to stay the night with our guests. Another person to schedule the intake and transportation volunteers.)
8. Donation/Supply Coordinator (We are given a lot of donations. It is important to get these needed supplies distributed to each shelter and kept track of so we know where supplies are when we need them. A good donation and supply coordinator would need to be fairly available. We have found people who want to donate want to do it fairly effortlessly and quickly. We miss out on a lot of opportunities because when someone wants to donate, we don’t always have a volunteer available to pick up or receive the donations. If someone were in charge of a small team of volunteers, we would be able to serve our community with better supplies.)
9. Morning Relief (This job is to relieve the overnight volunteer so they can get to work. You would ensure that chores are done and that everyone is out of the shelter in time.)

Commitment is a huge word but that’s what it takes to make our ministry run smoothly. Please see if you can commit to something above. It would make a huge difference in someone’s life this year!

We have an awesome opportunity to acquire supplies for our guests! We have been invited to participate in the Firefly Clean Up Project this year. We need people willing to go up to Dover and help on Monday the 18th at 9am. We have a couple of trucks and need helping hands! If you will be able to help us, please email us at codepurplesussexcounty@gmail.com or text 302-519-0024 and let us know asap! Breakfast and lunch will be served! We will provide water as well!

It looks like our season will end after Monday night. We will be open each night through  Monday 26th. The weather looks like it will stay above 32 degrees following the 26th.

The following locations will be open:

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
202 N. North St.
Seaford, DE 19973
Men only. Check- in 8:30pm. Check-out 7:45am.
Meals provided at The CROSS for dinner at 7:00pm.

Gateway Fellowship
8011 Cannon Road
Bridgeville, DE 19933
Women and children only.
Check-in 8:30 pm. Check-out 7:45am.
Women can meet at The CROSS for dinner at 7:00pm. Transportation will be provided to Gateway at 8:30pm and then back to Seaford in the morning.

——The CROSS building is located at 703 East King Street, Seaford, DE 19973.——

Avenue United Methodist Church
20 N Church Street
Milford, DE 19963
Men only. Check-in 7:00pm. Check-out 7:00am.
Meals provided on site