RITI 2026-2027: Let's Fill the Calendar Early!
The countdown is on! Beginning December 5, Myers Park Covenant Church will once again welcome our Room In The Inn (RITI) guests each Saturday night through March 27. Week after week, volunteers help create a warm, safe, and hospitable space through cooking, setting up, serving meals, spending time with guests, staying overnight, and helping with breakfast and cleanup.
This year, we're hoping to fill our volunteer slots earlier than ever. Why? Because when the schedule fills quickly, our leadership team can spend less time recruiting and more time focusing on creating an exceptional experience for our guests.
Whether you're a Room In The Inn veteran or considering volunteering for the first time, there's a place for you. Invite a friend, a Sunday School class, your family, or a small group to sign up together and help us launch the season with momentum.
Let's see if we can have the calendar nearly full before our first guests arrive on December 5!
Ready to help? Sign up today and be part of offering hospitality, dignity, and community throughout the winter season.
What is Room in the Inn?
Since 1996, our church has opened its doors and provided warm beds and meals to unhoused neighbors during the cold winter months. We were one of the original churches hosting the Room in the Inn (RITI) program, operated by Roof Above. (Mark your calendars for the 30th anniversary event on November 10th!) Because of facilities challenges, we have had to modify our approach in recent years, but we continue to offer 'radical hospitality' and love to our neighbors. Here is how our 2026-2027 season will look:
- The RITI season runs December 1 - March 31, and we will begin with a commitment to host on 3 Saturday nights each month. (We can add more nights if we see high volunteer demand.)
- We will use two spaces for hosting: our own Cornwell Center gym and the lovely Center of Hope hospitality suite at MP United Methodist Church.
- Each week, our van will pick up 14 neighbors and bring them back for dinner, fellowship, showers, an overnight bed, and breakfast. We drive them off in the morning with a packed lunch.
- We want this RITI season to be an all-campus affair and encourage TTWS and Cornwell members to join us. Volunteers can serve our operation in a number of ways, from driving the van to making beds, preparing a meal or spending the night on campus. Groups are encouraged to sign up together - it is fun to serve with friends!
- Volunteer registration will begin at the Fall Festival - look for the RITI station! We will also have a sign-up page online, via SignUp Genius.
- For new volunteers, we will offer training and a tour of the hosting spaces in late November / early December. All volunteers will be given detailed instructions before their hosting date(s), and we will have a volunteer captain on-site each weekend.