Gettysburg Cares

Gettysburg C.A.R.E.S. is currently hiring! CARES is an emergency cold-weather shelter for those without housing in Adams County, PA, and would like staff that has a heart for people experiencing homelessness. Please send your resume to [email protected] or [email protected]

Please do NOT send inquiries via Facebook Messenger, which is not monitored by C.A.R.E.S.

Gettysburg C.A.R.E.S. in the Summer

For most of us, summertime means vacation and sometimes a brief respite from school and work, plus an opportunity to prepare for the work that invariably lies ahead. This is certainly true for the many Adams County organizations and institutions that work to help people in true need.

Since 2012, Gettysburg C.A.R.E.S. (Combined Area Resources for Emergency Shelter) has brought together local congregations and citizens to provide emergency shelter to those without housing during the coldest months.

Over the 2024-2025 season, C.A.R.E.S. hosted 71 local men, women, and children in the overnight shelter and served 1,811 breakfast from November to April, a season of 161 days. In addition, on each of those days C.A.R.E.S. operated a Resource Center for guests to shower, do laundry, share a computer, and have a reliable mail address for job applications and such.

We will celebrate thirteen years of this community effort with an outdoor supper hosted by the Kellett Family at their home on Thursday, September 4th, 2025, at 5:30 PM. This annual C.A.R.E.S. Birthday Party offers a perfect opportunity to reflect on our past work and to look forward to future challenges, as well as to offer special recognition to our many very dedicated volunteers and community supporters.

We are especially pleased to welcome our new Board President, Paul Stokely.

Paul and his wife decided to get involved after meeting C.A.R.E.S. guests in town and at the hospital where Paul works. Both had done volunteer work with other groups but had not spent time getting to know the people they helped support and they saw that C.A.R.E.S. offered that opportunity. Until then, they didn’t really think of these folks as their neighbors, but of course they were and are our neighbors. Paul and his wife have volunteered with C.A.R.E.S. for two seasons now, and C.A.R.E.S. is one of the many groups that makes Paul and his wife proud to live in our community.

Paul says that he was “surprised at the range of backgrounds and stories” he heard from the people he talked to and played cards with. Some were recently evicted or turned out and needed time to find housing. Paul notes that, “[m]any worked one or two jobs but still couldn’t afford rent or transportation, couldn’t pass background checks, or had no rental history.” As we all know, Adams County can be expensive, and Paul was taken aback at how things he took for granted were often stumbling blocks for our most vulnerable neighbors.

If you’d like to support these efforts, Gettysburg C.A.R.E.S. will be included in the Adams County Community Foundation Giving Spree this November. Please consider a donation either by mail or in person on November 6th at the Gettysburg Wyndham. Gettysburg C.A.R.E.S. is also participating in CFC Charity, which allows Federal Employees to donate from their salary from October to January 15th.

Would you like to join us in our efforts? If so—or if you’d like to apply to work for C.A.R.E.S.—email [email protected] or call 717.334.4195.

Christopher Fee
Volunteer, C.A.R.E.S.
Graeff Professor of English, Gettysburg College
Member, College Advisory Council, Eisenhower Institute
Member, Menallen Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Co-Clerk, American Friends Service Committee Northeast Region
Member, Standing Nominating Committee, American Friends Service Committee

https://www.gettysburgtimes.com/life_entertainment/columns/article_b620e6ba-0a33-49db-94a4-83e57ce3dd21.html