“The wind-chill temperature is expected to drop below

zero by midnight . . .”

Where will you sleep tonight?

How ESP BeganSuch dire prospects were confronted directly, with compassion and determination, when in December 2004, community leaders in Mount Kisco gathered to address the growing problem of homelessness in northern Westchester County.

Reports of homeless men suffering through the severe winter, and in some cases, dying from exposure, served to mobilize the Mount Kisco Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Council, the Northern Westchester Interfaith Clergy Association, and the leadership of the Village of Mount Kisco. Within a month they jointly launched the Emergency Shelter Partnership (ESP), using the Bedford Presbyterian Church in Bedford Village as the first host location.

The partnership’s concept was elegantly simple: Houses of worship would open their doors on a rotating schedule to offer a safe place to sleep and a hot meal to those who had neither on the coldest nights of the year. Recognizing the need, four other congregations soon signed on to serve as hosts during that first winter.

Volunteers prepare and serve them a dinner provided by the host congregation, and they are given a space to sleep. A bilingual supervisor accompanies them throughout their stay. In the morning, they awaken early, are given breakfast by congregation volunteers, put away their bedding, and are transported back to Mount Kisco. Twice a week the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester provides shower facilities for these men and women.

Since the program’s inception, ESP coordinators report no more stories of deaths from exposure to the cold, but they do recount the progress of those they have assisted and empowered to move forward in their lives.

How ESP Can ContinueThough we have been a registered not-for-profit organization in New York State since 2011, the Emergency Shelter Partnership does not receive any public funding and is currently not a grantee of any foundations.

Our generous hosting congregations continue to provide space, food, and volunteers during the weeks of operation. But the program’s transportation and insurance must be funded, and overnight supervisors are paid for their services. We must rely on the compassion and dedication of our community partners and our individual supporters to fund the ongoing provision of emergency shelter.

The coming cold-weather season promises at least 65 days when the temperature in our area will drop to freezing or below, and you can expect roughly 29 snow events and 48 rainfalls from November through March. Your donation of $25 will ensure one safe night this winter for a neighbor in need. Won’t you sleep a little better, knowing you helped?

How ESP WorksA decade later, ESP continues to provide emergency shelter each night from November through March, working with sixteen host congregations and a cadre of community groups and individual volunteers. Each evening men and women in need of shelter assemble at the Mount Kisco Police Station and from there are transported to the weekly host’s location.

Is there a bed waiting for you? Will you eat a hot meal? When the temperature drops below zero, will you be able to keep warm?

Easy answers for most of us. But for some, having to get through tonight without shelter or food or protection against the cold is a very real prospect. In ten-degree weather with a moderate wind, frostbite can occur in just thirty minutes. Prolonged exposure brings on hypothermia, a life-threatening condition, but in rain or snow its onset is greatly accelerated.

We deeply appreciate your tax-deductible contribution

of any amount. Donations can be made to:

Emergency Shelter Partnership PO Box 427

Mount Kisco, NY 10549

www.emergencyshelterpartnership.org

Community PartnersAntioch Baptist Church, Bedford Hills

Bedford Community Church, Bedford HillsBedford Presbyterian Church

Bet Torah Synagogue, Mount KiscoCongregation B’Nai Yisrael, Armonk

First Congregational Church, ChappaquaFirst Presbyterian Church, Katonah

Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Mount KiscoPresbyterian Church of Mount Kisco

Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Mount KiscoSaint Luke’s Episcopal Church, Katonah

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Mount KiscoTemple Beth El, Chappaqua

Temple Shaaray Tefila, Bedford CornersUnitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Westchester, Mount Kisco

United Methodist Church of Mount Kisco

ESP SupportersBoys & Girls Club of Northern WestchesterCommunity Center of Northern Westchester

Katonah United Methodist ChurchMount Kisco Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Council

Neighbors Link Northern WestchesterSaint Francis AME Zion Church, Mount KiscoSaint Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Bedford

Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church, Bedford