Looking to Donate in Royal Oak? A List To Help the Homeless

Donations are needed at the Welcome Inn.

Folks looking to lend a hand or drop off much-needed items have a list supplies needed at the Welcome Inn day center in Royal Oak. The day center for the homeless during the winter months is a place where guests, mostly men aged 21 to 68, find warmth—both physical and spiritual.  Roy Watson, of Clawson, the executive director, released a list of items the center desparately needs. "It is really a community effort," he said. Donations may be dropped off weekdays between 9 a.m - 5 p.m. at Starr Presbyterian, located at 1717 W. 13 Mile Rd. If you or someone you know needs overnight shelter, a schedule of area churches providing warming centers can be found on the City of Royal Oak's website at: www.ci.royal-oak.mi.us/portal/content/warming-…

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Royal Oak's Homeless Find Warmth at Welcome Inn

As temperatures continue to dip in the region, the Welcome Inn offers relief from the bitter cold.

At the Welcome Inn day center in Royal Oak, guests find warmth—both physical and spiritual. Roy Watson, of Clawson, is the executive director of the day center for the homeless during the winter months. He says the guests, mostly men aged 21 to 68, appreciate being able to come in from the bitter cold and get something to eat, work on computers or enjoy watching a movie—even if the movie was released 20 years ago, as one guest pointed out with a smile. On Wednesday, with temperatures well below freezing, Watson had about 60 visitors come to the Welcome Inn, which is located at Starr Presbyterian Church. It's the group's first year at the church near 13 Mile and Crooks roads and Watson said guests are enjoying the roomier space. "Some days …

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UPDATE: Royal Oak Homeless Shelter Receives $13,100 to Serve Needy

During lunch at the Welcome Inn Friday, the daytime safe haven received a check from 100+ Woman Who Care.

Little did the board members of a cash-strapped day shelter know that while they were meeting to figure out how to provide food and transportation for 30 to 40 daily guests, a group of women was meeting at a Birmingham steakhouse writing $100 checks that would amount to $13,100 for the shelter. “It’s a miracle,” said Dru Szczerba, the executive director of the Welcome Inn, a daytime safe haven for the homeless located in the Unity Church on Crooks Road in Royal Oak. “We had a board meeting and we talked about how we were broke,” Szczerba said. “We didn’t know how we were going to survive. The next morning I got a phone call saying these women were going to give us money.” Pat Teeley, a Royal Oak real estate agent, was one of approximately …

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Ronald Wolf

1:49 pm on Sunday, February 17, 2013

Welll? Let me be the first on this posting to congratulate Women Who Care for this outstanding contribution when so many of us in Royal Oak are busy taking care of ourselves and those we personally know in need around us and simply do not have more to give. Just today when I thought I was beginning to dig myself out of my own hole I received a call I can't refuse. There must be those in Royal Oak…   more ›

The Heart Beat

Check In with Lonely Hearts ... and Others on Valentine’s Day

Valentine season is not just for the romantic. Make a pledge Feb. 14 to think with your heart throughout the year.

Valentine season is not just for romantic love.  There are two paper red hearts that hang on a cupboard in my kitchen as a reminder that there are several people living alone who need a hug or a kind gesture this Valentine’s Day. Strangers’ names are written on the bright, cut-out hearts, including Ray from Warren and Ann of Troy. I don’t know them, but I have their addresses (also inscribed on the hearts) and will soon put Valentine’s Day cards in the mail for these two. I’ll ask my sons to write a line or two to Ann and Ray, wishing them a good day and letting them know that people — even strangers — are thinking of them on this day. I plucked those little heart ornaments from the Church of St. Alan’s “Heart Tree” after attending Mass …

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Hometown Hero: Dru Szczerba Removes Barriers for Homeless

The door stays open at the Welcome Inn in Royal Oak for those in need.

Things are never easy for the poor, but when a homeless couple was arrested in the slaying of an elderly Royal Oak woman in November, things somehow managed to get even tougher for those seeking shelter and assistance. Some of the neighbors of the Welcome Inn Day Center — a daytime safe haven for the homeless located in the Unity Church on Crooks Road in Royal Oak — seized upon the tragedy to raise objections to the drop-in center. The center, which started in 2000, assists the homeless population in Royal Oak who use evening and overnight programs but who have few places to go during the day except the streets and public buildings. “They were saying, ‘See? We told you this would happen,’ ” said Dru Szczerba, who was hired in 2011 as the …

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