There is nothing unusual about a school encouraging its students to participate in community service or those students electing to spend their time and energy helping homeless families get back on their feet. But like many experiences at Charles Wright, the community service requirement here is broader, deeper and more challenging.

In a quest to develop students’ compassion for humanity and their life-long commitment to service, Charles Wright not only requires students to participate in community service, the school brings the community’s needs right onto its campus.

Chaplain Mike Moffitt spearheads Chapel Home, one of the nation’s most unique school service programs. In partnership with the Phoenix Housing Network, a program run by Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, Charles Wright houses and staffs an emergency housing program for homeless families twice a year.

On any given night, more than 1,600 people are homeless in Pierce County and 58 percent of those people belong to families with children. Last year 87 families found emergency housing through this shelter which moves locations every week. The program is most often hosted by area churches.

The participating families are carefully screened by Catholic Community Services. From 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM the adults go to the Phoenix Housing Day Center to shower, do laundry, take classes, and look for jobs, and the children go to school. At night, they call Charles Wright home.

Chapel Home opened this weekend with the enthusiastic support of Charles Wright families. Students and their families cook, serve and eat dinner with the shelter guests. Others bring after-school snacks and breakfast food. Upper School students serve as evening helpers, playing with the children, tutoring them as they do homework, and providing entertainment.

Some of the families staying at Charles Wright this week may find transitional housing through Catholic Community Services. The organization can provide housing and services to 50 families at a time as they work toward self-sufficiency. The rest will move with the shelter to the next host site. In December, all the families that are served by the Phoenix Housing Network this year will be invited back to Charles Wright for the annual Christmas dinner.

At the end of the week, we’ll hear from students, faculty and staff about their experience with Chapel Home. In the meantime, take a few minutes to watch this short documentary produced by Chaplain Moffitt and a CWA student.  Click here to watch the video online.