Holy Family Outreach Center Closes For Season

After more than five months of offering warmth, safety, and community, the Holy Family Catholic Community Outreach Center brought its second season to a close earlier this month.

Beginning in November, more than 30 staff and volunteers welcomed those without shelter to Holy Family Outreach Center at St. Mary’s Church. Open Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, the center served 40 clients and helped to meet the need of providing our city’s homeless population a place to go during the day before they returned to the Salvation Army’s Warming Shelter at night.

The center is not only a place to get out of the cold, but to find help. Throughout the season, volunteers and staff worked with clients to connect them to resources within Fond du Lac County, such as transportation, housing, employment, meals, healthcare, and phones—with the help of local organizations.

While originally the center planned to shut down for the season at the end of the March, it kept its doors open through April 15 to help those in its care during the unseasonably cold temperatures. Throughout this time, the volunteers continued to help clients plan for the future and close as many gaps in resources as they could before the season ended.

“We are called to serve our community, and ensuring that those without a home can have a place to get warm, eat a meal, and find help is one way we can answer that call,” Director of Human Concerns Erin Cobb said. “We of course could not do this without our volunteers who dedicate their time and skills to help our clients. We are blessed to do this work and have such a wonderful team carry it out.”

The Holy Family Outreach Center plans to reopen its doors again in November. In the meantime, the parish will continue to offer help, hosting its Blessed Bites meal-to-go program for anyone who needs a meal.

On average, the program based out of St. Mary’s Church, 59 E. Merrill Ave., provides to-go meals, boxed and canned goods, and cleaning/care items to more than 60 people a week on Tuesday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30 — or until meals run out.