Middletown Warming Station opened its doors on Nov. 24 to the homeless and others who need a hot supper and warm bed on cold nights.

It is the 17th season of the warming station, which has been run since day one by the Greater Middletown Interfaith Council and fueled by an army of dedicated volunteers from nearby communities.

“It is so touching that many people want to help. They give up their time and energy, and they come here to serve in the kitchen, sweep the floor, or spend the night,” the station’s coordinating committee co-chair, Marilyn Pierce, told The Epoch Times.

The station opens every night until early April, and at least six volunteers are needed daily for food service and overnight stays, on top of weekly laundry errands and other duties.

According to Pierce, almost all volunteer spots have been filled until the end of January.

“This space represents the diversity of our faith community and community in general and the dedication of generations of clergy and volunteers who come in regardless of the weather and what’s happening in their own lives,” said the other co-chair, Michele Duggan.

Duggan began volunteering for the station years ago when it was housed in the basement of her church, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. The station had moved between three local churches before it settled into the current city-sponsored Mulberry Street location in 2021.

Even when a volunteer spot suddenly becomes unclaimed, you can always count on someone to fill in at the last minute, according to dinner coordinator Lisa Catania.

“I am kind of incredibly amazed at how it gets done every year. The volunteers just come through every single time. They are so faithful,” Catania told The Epoch Times.

Stepping in when others can’t—that is how Catania and her family got involved in the first place. About 10 years ago, when she saw a friend’s Facebook post saying that a meals coordinator at the warming station could no longer volunteer on a December day, she shared it with her husband, who made homemade pasta and delivered it.

“It just snowballed from there,” said the Middletown resident, who stepped up to become the dinner coordinator at the station three years ago.

For Janet Sutherland, a Mount Hope resident and Orange County legislator, it is her third year as the breakfast bag coordinator.

“Food and housing are two most important things, next to good health,” Sutherland told The Epoch Times. “It is a great way to give back and brings us a lot of joy.”

Sutherland started volunteering with her husband and children at the warming station from almost the beginning.

Daniel Zaninovic, 17, also said volunteering brought him much joy.

The Middletown High School student started helping at the station when he was 13, first doing two-hour shifts in the kitchen and then taking up overnight duties, even on weekdays.

“I get home from school, I do my homework, and I come here. When I wake up, I am going straight to school,” Zaninovic told The Epoch Times about his overnight shifts.

“He is the one who pushed me to volunteer more often than I wanted to,” his mother, Irena Zaninovic, told The Epoch Times. “We always volunteer together.”

“Since I started volunteering here, it sort of put me on the path of doing more volunteering stuff in general,” said the young Zaninovic, who became the president of the National Honor Society at his school this year and plans fundraising for the warming station soon.

For Abigail Simpson and Gabriel Simpson, another mother and son duo from nearby Otisville, it is their first year volunteering at the warming station.

“I have a friend and her son who helped here, and that’s how we learned about it,” Abigail Simpson told The Epoch Times. “I really liked the prayers. They were very touching.”

Grace Episcopal Church Rector Victor Sarrazin, Temple Sinai Rabbi David Sislen, and Love Legacy Chapel International Pastor Helen Davis offered prayers during the station’s opening night before everyone in attendance held hands and sang together.

“The warming station brings the best people together,” Gary Texter, a pastoral assistant at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, told The Epoch Times. “It is a beautiful story of all the different faiths coming together to help others and lift them up.”

Sarrazin, also the president of the Interfaith Council, recalled the station’s history to the publication.

“We have had a number of homes, and over the years, we have settled into a very positive relationship with the city and the folks around us,” he said.

Under Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano, the city council moved during the COVID-19 pandemic to upgrade a city-owned space for use by the warming station with federal stimulus money under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. 

“The real goal is to get people out of this position,” Sarrazin said.

Last year, the 30-bed warming station helped around a dozen people find housing with the support of social service organizations, according to station manager Matthew Airall.

Hope for Humanity

Over the years, the station has connected individuals dealing with drug and alcohol addiction to rehabilitation programs. One notable case involved a woman who went to Manhattan for treatment and chose to stay in the city after completing the program to continue her long-term recovery.

“One of the biggest problems for people going through rehab is that they come back to the same environment they have left and the same friends who use drugs,” Airall said. “She was encouraged to stay down there. She is doing quite well. She is working.”

As rent in the Middletown area shoots up, Airall also sees the working homeless coming to the station as a temporary housing solution as they save up for their first deposit.

Last year, a young man working at Walmart walked more than two miles every night after work to the warming station for free hot meals and a warm bed.

Occasionally, the station comes in handy for people who run into unexpected emergencies, such as an elderly couple whose heating broke down on a very cold night and a working man who missed the last bus out of Middletown, according to Airall.

“We take every individual,” he said. “Our rules are simple: no smoking, no alcohol, and no drugs in the building; if you get into a fight here, you must leave.”

Having volunteered and worked at the station for more than 12 years, Airall said the experience opened a larger window into life and strengthened his hope in humanity.

Sometimes, it is the kindness shown by station guests, such as one homeless person who put his coat on an autistic young man wearing a T-shirt while they waited in line to get into the station on a cold night. Other times, it is the compassion coming from fellow volunteers.

“We get a lot of volunteers from Touro College, and seeing the compassion coming from the young people, I say there is a lot of hope for humanity,” Airall said.

The station doors are open between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. daily until April 3, 2025. Guests must leave by 9 a.m.

For November and December, guests can stay until 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays and 12:30 p.m. on Sundays.

The other two warming stations in Orange County are located at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Port Jervis and Newburgh Ministry, or Hope Safe Haven, in Newburgh.