Rotary talks about Welcome House during Homeless Awareness Week

Without fanfare, an awareness week is being observed throughout the area by those who live with the plight of homelessness.
Homeless Awareness Week is Feb. 21-28, Sunday to Sunday, fitting for The Welcome House.
The Welcome House, as it is currently constructed, came to fruition five years ago after existing for many years and going through a large remodel and rebuilding that began 10 years ago. Leading the charge of that project was the Rotary Club of Crowley.
A lot of Rotary’s recent history can be traced back to The Welcome House. Club members like Joe Freeland took the helm of that project that would end up winning accolades from Rotary International District 6200 and many more. It was a prime example, after all, of Service Above Self.
“(The project) was a huge undertaking,” said Freeland. “I would like to personally each of you who contributed to this project.”
However, it was not just Rotarians that got behind the project as monetary and in-kind donations came from throughout the area.
“Crowley is a very generous town,” said Freeland. “We have an incredibly generous community.”
It was in that first phase that Rotarian Mary Zaunbrecher got her first run with Rotary even before joining the club, offering to lead a volunteer group that was coming from Arkansas to help in phase one of building the new Welcome House facility. Zaunbrecher would later become a member of the club in 2009 and has been one of the project’s ongoing supporters for years having co-chaired several huge fundraisers for the Community Outreach Corporation, which helps fund The Welcome House.
A day in the life of a resident at The Welcome House has a tight schedule.
The day begins at 6 a.m. with breakfast. Over the course of the rest of the day, two more meals and three snacks will be served. Residents with jobs are transported to and from work, as are those enrolled in educational opportunities or those needing a ride to a doctor and so on.
Those who are not employed work around the shelter cooking, cleaning, farming, etc. Also offered are Bible studies and other Christian activities and, while attendance at the adjacent church, the Maxie Tabernacle Gospel Church, is not required, many residents find their spiritual home at that church.
In fact, it is that spiritual side of The Welcome House that Stacy Miller, now director at the facility, was drawn to and the reason she kept coming back.
A volunteer at first, Miller would drive in from the Eunice area to present Bible study. Her involvement only grew as she found the facility to be her new calling in life.
Several years ago, Miller was named director of the facility. It is now her charge to see to the everyday needs of the clients The Welcome House feeds, houses, clothes and more. And while many may see The Welcome House as a Crowley homeless shelter or one for Acadia Parish, specifically, in the first half of 2015 alone, The Welcome House had 68 of its 478 clients come from out of state. There have also been clients from other countries that found their way to “Crowley’s homeless shelter.”
Since the project’s inception, the Crowley area has supported the Welcome House project in many ways. Churches, organizations, corporations and individuals have contributed over $800,000 in cash, $400,000 in in-kind and over 30,000 volunteer hours in support of this outreach program.
As for the future of The Welcome House, Rotary is already working toward fundraisers to help keep the facility going strong. That, coupled with continued support from the community has all but assured a bright future for the Welcome House.
Homeless Awareness Week began in 2006 when the cities of Rayne and Crowley, as well as the Acadia Parish Police Jury, passed resolutions identifying the second full week of Lent annually as Homeless Awareness Week.