Who We Are
Our mission is to honor the dignity, restore hope and create lasting change for those experiencing homelessness or housing instability in the Green Bay community.
Who is St. John’s Ministries
At St. John’s Ministries, we believe that each person is unique, with the same inherent worth as the day they were born. We meet each of our guests right where they’re at and walk alongside them on their journey. Our vision is that through a spirit of familiarity, rapport and trust, each person will leave better than they came.
The name St. John’s Ministries refers to our organization as a whole. St. John’s Ministries provides shelter services and daytime resources across four locations;
At St. John’s Men’s Shelter and St. John’s Women’s Shelter, we provide adults experiencing homelessness with a safe and supportive place to sleep from November 1 through April 30, during the coldest time of the year. During our emergency shelter season, St. John’s Ministries operates as a shelter of last resort, serving adults that are not eligible for shelter services elsewhere and would otherwise be forced to sleep on the street. During their time in shelter, guests receive warm meals, access to showers and laundry services, basic needs fulfillment, and continued case management.
Men’s Shelter Sleeping Room
Women’s Shelter Sleeping Room
Women’s shelter common room
Men’s shelter donation room
At our two daytime resource centers, Micah Center and Wellspring, our case managers, volunteers, and community provider partners equip adults experiencing homelessness – as well as community members at-risk – with the tools and resources to achieve self-sufficiency and leave our services better than when they arrived.
During the warmer months, from May 1 through October 31, St. John’s Ministries offers a Summer Safe Sleep program providing shelter to those most chronically homeless or transitioning out of homelessness, with a plan for stable living. Summer Safe Sleep is not a continuation of emergency shelter season, rather it is a program designed to serve and stay connected to the most vulnerable individuals in our community.
Throughout the shelter off-season, on Tuesdays and Fridays, St. John’s Ministries offers Drop-In Day services for community members seeking services and support. At the Men’s and Women’s Shelter, visitors can receive breakfast, lunch, laundry and shower services, basic needs fulfillment, case management, and services from community providers.
Guests volunteering at the Micah Center
Health and nutrition class at the Micah Center
Case Management
Service projects completed by guests and staff
Employment readiness workshop
Drop-In Days
Crisis Cafe serving lunch at the Micah Center
UW FoodWise teaching health & nutrition
NEW Community Clinic providing onsite care at wellspring
Lunch service at Wellspring
Service trip to Green Bay Botanical Gardens
Green Bay Police Department spending time with ladies at Wellspring
Guests prepare for a cooking contest
Life-saving mission
Supporting a person in their journey to self-sufficiency is the goal of our year-round daytime resource centers (Micah Center and Wellspring). Regardless of where they reside at night, individuals should have access to medical care, mental health treatment, support groups and resources designed to eliminate barriers and ensure they have the tools necessary to move towards their self sufficiency goals. The Micah Center and Wellspring are important resource centers to those who may be facing hardships. Since even one episode of homelessness can lead to decreased life expectancy, our work of prevention is truly a life-saving mission.
Wellspring and Micah Center offer on-site computer labs, group programming, and one-on-one case management. The ability to connect with others facing similar hardships, volunteers, and community service providers is one of many reasons individuals visit the our centers.
Our women-specific daytime resource center, Wellspring, offers safety and belonging to women who are homeless, living with mental illness, disabled, facing financial issues or in broken relationships. Wellspring strives to elevate the mind, body and spirit through peer support, personal growth opportunities, resources and referrals. We foster an atmosphere of dignity and respect as we empower women and provide the means to help them grow.
What can I do to help?
There are many things you can do to help someone experiencing homelessness. Guiding each person to resources helps restore hope and get people on the path to self-sufficiency.
CALL FOR SUPPORT — Because Brown County is a community where there is “no wrong door,” connecting a homeless adult to the Micah Center, Wellspring, our shelters or any other homeless provider will help you connect that individual to all providers available in the community, identifying the best resources for the person in need.
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT SOMEONE’S HEALTH AND WELFARE — The Green Bay Police Department has trained mental health officers who can do a welfare check.
Become part of our mission?
If homelessness isn’t visible, people may think it doesn’t exist. However, this past year St. John’s served approximately 800 adults at our seasonal emergency shelter of last resort and through Summer Safe Sleep. Our resource centers had over 14,900 visits from individuals seeking support and services, and case managers provided 11,500 hours of case management for men and women in our community. We serve many of the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness who do not qualify for other shelters or services. We honor the dignity, restore hope and create lasting change in the lives of our homeless brothers and sisters.
Donations
We maintain a monthly list of needs on our website and always welcome community members who want to hold donation drives or come up with their own unique way of raising awareness by collecting items.
Volunteering
We can always use help serving meals, completing service projects and welcoming guests as a hospitality volunteer. Whatever your talents and passions are, we welcome you! Learn more today!
Support Financially
We rely heavily on community support and the reality is that it is expensive to operate two shelters and two daytime resource centers. Heat, salaries, food, electricity are ongoing challenges.
The St. John’s Ministries model is simple. Regardless of where you have come from, regardless of the choices you have made, and regardless of what led you to this position, you have dignity and worth. You are loved. We welcome individuals to come right as they are. There’s no expectation that someone “clean up” prior to seeking out services. We love them just as they are but then also love them too much to desire that they stay in the position they are in.
We start with a bed and it’s not fancy, but it’s warm and it comes with a hearty meal, generously donated by volunteers. It’s harm reduction in its simplest form. At a basic level, we want to ensure that no individuals are on the streets of Green Bay in the harsh winter months. But, from the minute a case manager meets with the guest, we are providing wraparound services to ensure that the guest is offered every opportunity to seek out the resources necessary to take steps towards self-sufficiency. This includes drug and alcohol classes, mental health counseling, medical care, services to help those seeking and those who have secured employment, and opportunities to increase one’s sense of self-worth through giving back. We offer guests the opportunity to move forward on their journey.
During the day our shelter doors close to encourage guests to get out and work towards their goals. We then open the Micah Center and Wellspring, our daytime resource centers, as one of the resources available. At our daytime resource centers, guests are welcomed with open arms. We want to provide a sense of belonging and do that with a strategic drop-in component. We offer a computer lab, programming rooms, medical and mental health services, support groups, workshops, classes and resources for AODA classes so each individual can take the steps necessary in a supportive environment.
St. John’s Ministries has found that this approach works. Guests have often been turned down and away for so long that they’ve lost hope in themselves, hope in their future and hope in tomorrow looking any brighter than today. By loving individuals right where they are at and building an intentional relationship with them, we are able to help them start believing again.
