Room at the Inn program begins as colder weather sets in

JACKSON, Tenn. – Wednesday night was the opening night of Area Relief Ministries’ “Room at the Inn” program that aims to house the homeless when the temperatures drop.

We met with the Executive Director of ARM, Michael Roby, who told us more about Room at the Inn and what they do.

“We house homeless men every night throughout the winter for six months with area churches and volunteers,” Roby said.

So how does it work? 

During the winter months the program is in effect, homeless men can go to the ARM office in downtown Jackson and register every evening at 4 p.m.

Each individual is provided a sleeping bag and cot. They are then loaded onto a bus and taken to churches in the area to stay overnight.

“Get taken to an area church and fed, loved on, fellowshipped with, spend the night in a warm environment,” Roby said.

In the morning they are fed breakfast and then taken via bus back to ARM.

Roby says the program offers a great opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ and bless the homeless population.

Roby tells us that the program isn’t without its hardships though.

We spoke with Gary Ross, the Program Director of ARM who highlighted the need for more churches to get involved.

“Because of the COVID pandemic, many of our churches dropped out for safety reasons. But now that that’s an issue that we all are going to have to deal with, we’re asking people to please return to the program because it’s certainly needed,” Ross said.

Ross told us that before the pandemic, there were 42 churches in the local area that were assisting in the program. Now they are down to 26.

Because the program rotates to a different church each night between the months of November and April, it puts significant strain on the few churches currently enrolled.

“The more churches we have, the less they will have to volunteer. But it’s a win-win for the homeless men and for those who serve,” Ross said.

Wednesday night, Macedonia Baptist Church in east Jackson housed and fed the homeless. Thursday, St. Mary’s Catholic Church will do the same.

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