Fresh Start Shelter

About Fresh Start:

In October of 2012, Lebanon County Christian Ministries launched a project to help the homeless of the Lebanon area. Fresh Start began as H.O.P.E.S. (Helping Others by Providing Emergency Shelter) and works to address the problem of homelessness on several fronts…not only by sheltering people for a night, but by providing career and personal counseling to help these people pull themselves out of poverty and homelessness. Fresh Start brings our neighbors in from the cold seeks to help them regain self-sufficiency and control over their lives. 

Fresh Start begins a new chapter as it occupies space in the Chestnut Street Community Center (formerly the First Evangelical Congregational Church) at the corner of 6th and Chestnut opposite St. Luke’s Church. At 8:00 PM on Monday, January 31, 2022, the Center welcomed its first guests from Fresh Start to the former education building. The first floor has been cleared out, cleaned up, and prepared for use as the shelter’s overnight space. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, guests have been housed in hotel rooms, which is neither financially sustainable nor conducive to the implementation of helpful programming. Currently, daytime Fresh Start operations will remain at the Fresh Start Resource Center at LCCM on Locust Street.

Fresh Start depends on local churches to provide resources and volunteers to oversee the overnight shelter. St. Luke’s continues its participation by providing trained volunteers to assist. In order to volunteer you must register with LCCM and complete the 30 minute online training. During the registration process you will be asked the name of your home church. If St. Luke’s is not your home church and you do not have a home church you may enter Chestnut Street Community Center (CSCC) which will indicate to LCCM that you are part of our community network.

Special Note about COVID-19

  • Fresh Start is conducted under the aegis of LCCM, not St. Luke’s, and has less stringent COVID-prevention strategies in place. Masking is not required for any volunteers or for vaccinated guests. Please take this into account if you are at high risk of COVID complications.

If you have questions or want more information on how you can help, please contact parish coordinator Jen Hackett via the parish office.

See links below to sign up for a volunteer shift or for information about donating to the program.

Fresh Start Information Quick Links: