Micah Ecumenical Ministries

10/21/2026

With winter around the corner, we have a few gaps we need your help filling! Micah’s Cold Weather Shelter is a lifesaving intervention for the most vulnerable people in our community, giving them a warm indoor space to sleep on nights when temperatures are dangerously low. A key part of Cold Weather Shelter season is preparing and serving meals for our neighbors who utilize the CWS each open night.

We are actively seeking small groups who can take on a monthly breakfast commitment! During the winter months only, we still need to find groups who can commit to preparing and serving breakfast for our neighbors. The space (different downtown churches, depending on the day of the week) is provided and ready for you. We need your group to provide the breakfast and coffee!

Some groups do a simple breakfast, like cereal and milk, or vats of warm oatmeal in crock pots. Others go all out, and make breakfast casseroles or pancake feasts. The sky’s the limit! We just need your willingness to get up early to create a hospitable space for our neighbors leaving Cold Weather Shelter.

Coffee needs to be ready at 7 AM, so this is a great opportunity for early risers. Please consider volunteering your church group, book club, civic organization, etc.
Our openings that remain are one Monday a month, one Tuesday a month, or one Saturday a month.

If you’d like more information or you’d like to make the commitment, please contact our Community Engagement Coordinator, Alacia Harrison, at 540-200-8373, or our Executive Administrator, Jill Clare, at 540-848-5157.

10/20/2026

Will Jeremiah Community bring people to Fredericksburg?

There is no statistical evidence that people relocate because there are better homeless services somewhere else. As Micah Executive Servant-Leader Meghann Cotter explains, our own research shows that people who are unhoused here have landed here because we are on a major interstate with train and bus transportation, or more commonly, because this is their home–where they grew up, attended high school, made memories.

And even if an individual did come to Fredericksburg specifically because they’d heard about Jeremiah Community, our procedures for filling these homes will always prioritize the chronically homeless who are already living here, and who have been working with our ministries for years to improve their housing situation.

Learn more about this and other common questions about Jeremiah Community, and see what a Jeremiah home will look like at our weekly Open House events.

📅 Every Sunday, 12 noon–2 PM, now through Dec. 20
📍 Behind 401 Willis St., downtown Fredericksburg
🚪 No RSVP needed. Drop in for 10 minutes or stay for an hour.

See the comment below for more event information. We'd love to see you this Sunday!

10/15/2026

What happens when an individual is discharged from the hospital, but has no home to recover in?

Going from the hospital to a tent, a car or a park bench can often mean a return trip to the ER is in the near future.

Micah’s Respite House solves for this. It is a licensed home, staffed 24/7, where up to eight neighbors at a time can heal from a physical or mental health crisis. While they are here, they benefit from medication management, meals, rides to appointments and intensive case management.

As our Health Care Navigator Sarah Bratt says, recovery is just the start.

“Once we get them in here and start peeling the onion, we find there are a lot more issues happening,” she says. So Respite House connects neighbors with the other spokes of Micah’s “Bicycle Wheel” of care: restoring income, locating vital documents, and taking the next steps toward housing.

Healing is hard work. Micah ensures neighbors don’t have to do it alone.

10/14/2026

Join us as we remember and reflect on the lives of Micah neighbors who have passed away over the past year at our annual All Saints’ Day Neighborhood Remembrance Service. We gather in their memory, to memorialize those who often have no headstone, yet are claimed by name to God.

Starting at 5:30PM, visitors can spend time reflecting at our campsite vigil. A tent will be set up for each neighbor we are honoring, with a photo and story about their life and impact. Arrive any time between 5:30-6:30PM.

📅 Thursday, Oct. 29

⏰ 5:30-6:30 PM campsite vigil

⏰ 6:30 PM candlelight service begins

📍 The Methodist Green at Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, 308 Hanover St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401

See the event linked in comments for more information.

10/14/2026

10/13/2026

Will residents of Jeremiah Community pay rent?

Many people who live on the street do have income, whether from Social Security, or from working multiple jobs. They just don’t have enough to pay for housing in the Fredericksburg-area market.

As Micah Executive Servant-Leader Meghann Cotter explains, Jeremiah Community is designed to enable residents to pay a rent they can afford, with an operating budget built to cover the balance of their housing costs. The first seven years of operating expenses are built into the $17.5 million capital campaign for Jeremiah.

Learn more about this and other common questions about Jeremiah Community, and see what a Jeremiah home will look like at our weekly Open House events.

📅 Every Sunday, 12 noon–2 PM, now through Dec. 20
📍 Behind 401 Willis St., downtown Fredericksburg
🚪 No RSVP needed. Drop in for 10 minutes or stay for an hour.

See the comment below for more event information. We'd love to see you this Sunday!

10/08/2026

Cold Weather Shelter provides a safe and warm space for neighbors experiencing homelessness to stay on winter's coldest nights.

It is a life-saving ministry that could not happen without the work of dedicated volunteers.

We’re building volunteer teams for this winter:

🚌 Transportation / Drivers: Our biggest need. Drive Micah’s bus or 12-passenger van from the Community Dinner site to the shelter in the evenings, with a pick-up time around 6 PM. Or drive neighbors from the shelter in the morning to bring them back downtown as the day begins, with a pickup time of around 6:45-7 AM. No CDL needed. You can sign up for just one driving shift a week, or more if you like! We also need backup drivers on call.

✨ Check-in Teams: Be the welcoming face when neighbors arrive. Arrive around 5:30 PM to help set up, check folks in, and create a warm atmosphere with conversation, snacks, or games. Teams of 3 to 5 people typically cover one set day per month (like third Sundays) if the shelter is open, finishing around 8 PM.

☕ Morning Hospitality Teams: Help neighbors start the day knowing they are cared for. Bring your small group and prepare and serve coffee, breakfast (anything you'd like to provide, from cereal and pastries to hot casseroles) and conversation. The bus arrives around 7 AM at rotating host churches. Shift is roughly 6 AM to 8:30 AM, including setup.

Interested? Contact Micah’s Community Engagement Navigator, Alacia Harrison, at [email protected] or 540-200-8373. To learn more about the shelter and volunteer opportunities, visit the link in comments.

Thank you for helping keep our neighbors safe and warm this winter.

10/08/2026

These friends came from all over the country to the conference in Richmond, VA and then hopped a bus to Fredericksburg so we could give them one of our legendary come and see tours. A great time was had by all!

is bringing Gods people together

10/06/2026

Who gets to live at Jeremiah Community?

This is one of the first questions we get asked on tours. Micah Executive Servant-Leader Meghann Cotter explains how Micah and its partner agencies keep a close eye on our neighbors experiencing homelessness, and how Jeremiah Community will expand the options available for getting our most-vulnerable neighbors into permanent housing.

We invite you to come see the Jeremiah prototype home and bring your own questions.
🏡 Sunday Open Houses start Oct. 11

Come see the prototype house in person, walk through it, and ask your questions. 👀

📅 Every Sunday, 12 noon–2 PM, now through Dec. 20
📍 Behind 401 Willis St., downtown Fredericksburg
🚪 No RSVP needed. Drop in for 10 minutes or stay for an hour.

See the pinned comment below for more event information. We'd love to see you Sunday!

10/05/2026

Tonight's community dinner will be held at Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, instead of the usual location.
The church address is 308 Hanover St, but neighbors should enter at the lower door on the Princess Anne St side, across from City Hall.
Monday dinner will be held at this location at FUMC for all the Mondays in October.
Please stay tuned for the November location, and help us spread the word!