Coalition to Shelter & Support the Homeless
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Thank you to our CSSH volunteers! Now that the 2023-2024 Code Blue season has closed, it's the perfect time to send out our heartfelt message of gratitude for your service and compassion. Without our CSSH volunteers donating their time and passion to the cause of homelessness, our work would not be possible. Volunteers make it happen!
This month, we spotlight two CSSH volunteers, Allison Wetzel and George Segelken, who have made outstanding contributions to the program. Their stories demonstrate how what motivates their service and dedication to our mission. It is truly inspirational to realize that Allison and George are only two of the two hundred fifteen (215) volunteers who served shifts in the Code Blue shelter this past season!
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Volunteer Spotlight
ALLISON WETZEL
Allison joined CSSH as a volunteer in 2019, after years of a career as an elementary school teacher. Her two daughters were in college and Allison found herself with “a lot of time to fill”, home with her dogs. Allison recalls seeing a Code Blue Shelter sign outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. She then observed one of the CSSH guests outside of the church, and it compelled her to learn more about “Code Blue, and the rest is history”.
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Allison was trained and became a CSSH volunteer, from that point on she volunteered a few times a week during the season. “A few years ago, I got involved in some of the CSSH committees. I met some great people, and it was a rewarding experience to be part of a volunteer community.” As a Doylestown resident, Allison started to recognize CSSH guests at the Panera Bread, Acme, and the library.” More than fifty percent of the time, in my daily travels I notice a guest that has been to the shelters. It shouldn’t be that people have to go from place to place to find shelter and feel safe. CSSH Code Blue shelters offer people the respect, dignity, and compassion that they deserve”.
One of Allison’s fondest memories volunteering for CSSH was in her role as a Van Driver. She recalls a classic rock song being played on the radio and she started to hum and sing along. “A few of the guys were in the van, and they too started singing the song. It was such a simple thing, but one that stands out for me. For a moment, it didn’t matter that I was the volunteer and the guys the guests; we connected the same to that song on the radio”.
Allison truly cherishes her time volunteering with CSSH and building relationships with many guests over the years. She shared that serving as a volunteer allowed her to reconnect with other CSSH volunteers in the community that she had lost touch with over the years. “The CSSH volunteer pool is unique, there are people that I haven’t seen or spoken to for ten, twenty, years whether I met through work or church. People often go their separate ways, but it was so rewarding to be reunited through a shared purpose and sense of belonging- that is CSSH”.
Allison has served as a CSSH volunteer in a variety of roles which include Host Site Manager, Volunteer Development Trainer, Committee member, and worked every shift at all the Code Blue shelter sites. In Allison’s free time she enjoys spending time with her husband, Mark of thirty years, her two daughters, Abby and Mel, and her dog. She also volunteered for Vita Educational Services where she taught English as a second language. Allison is an avid reader and recently finished the book “The Midnight Library” which she thoroughly enjoyed. Allison has a goal to read sixty books a year, and this past read was number ten.
Allison has recently moved to Boston, MA to be closer to her extended family. CSSH is incredibly grateful to have had Allison support our mission through her volunteerism and wishes her and her family the best in their new home.
CSSH NEWS​
GEORGE SEGELKEN
George and his wife Lorrie moved to Bucks County in 2009, and became members of Doylestown Presbyterian Church (DPC) . George started a new job, commuting via the high-speed train to Center City, Philadelphia. Each morning, as he walked the few blocks to his office, he passed three or four people who appeared unhoused. George shared that he did not feel sorry for these people, instead he called himself to action and thought, “these people need some help-let me see what I can do”.
A few weeks later, while attending a Sunday service at DPC, George first learned of the Coalition to Shelter and Support the Homeless (CSSH). The idea of volunteering sparked his memory of the folks he walked by each morning on the street of Philadelphia. George stated, “They were no longer strangers, I was seeing these people every day. People’s perceptions of the homeless are incorrect. They are people first; they have their challenges and so do I”.
George, who worked as an as an Insurance Executive for years, and who never had any past experience working with the unhoused population, signed up to become a CSSH volunteer. His first volunteer assignment was as a van driver. While transporting folks to the shelter, George chatted and started building relationships with the guests. For George, after only a few weeks he knew his work as a volunteer was important. The experience provided him with a sense of satisfaction, or a way to give back to his neighbors and community.
George soon immersed himself in his newfound purpose as a volunteer. He signed up for various volunteer roles, typically twice a week. Quickly, George had volunteered in every capacity across all shelter shifts. The more time he spent with the guests the more he learned how much of an impact he made on the lives of the people he served. This Code Blue season, George served as both a Host Site Manager and a Shelter Site Manager.
George shared his favorite memory from the “early days with CSSH”. It is the story of two shelter guests falling in love and getting married. He recalls that the bride to be asked one of the CSSH founders, Anne Bishop, “who is that guy that is always taking all the pictures?”. The couple asked George to be the wedding day photographer, and he was honored to accept the opportunity. George chuckled when he said, “they had their wedding dinner at the CSSH Monthly Community Meal and everyone joined their celebration”.
When not volunteering, George and Lorrie enjoy travelling to exotic destinations together.
This past December they travelled to Ecuador. The Galapagos Islands was another memorable experience, especially seeing the iguanas take to the sea to feed, and warm themselves on the rocky beaches. His favorite travel destination was by far the Amazon; where he saw an array of rainforest animal life. George and Loree also enjoy being grandparents to their two grandchildren, Oliver (age 9) and Lucy
(age 5).