- 757-229-3700
- [email protected]
- Monday – Friday / 9:30am – 3:30pm
Menu
The Williamsburg House of Mercy began in 1979, when Sister Berenice Eltz of the Sisters of Mercy left teaching at Walsingham Academy and entered into social ministry at Saint Bede Catholic Church. Often called the “Mother Teresa of Williamsburg,” Sister Berenice touched the lives of countless souls in the Williamsburg community. Saint Bede’s social ministries have seen many faces and changes over the years, but Sister Berenice’s legacy of mercy and service to the poor remains.
On December 8, 2015, Pope Francis declared a Holy Year of Mercy, and called on the faithful to live this year in the light of the Lord’s words: ‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’ In honor of the Holy Year of Mercy, the Saint Bede Outreach Center was renamed the Williamsburg House of Mercy and incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit corporation.
The Williamsburg House of Mercy (WHOM) provides food, shelter, comfort, and hope to our poor, homeless, precariously housed, and less fortunate neighbors in our commitment to assist all in need in our community.
Our mission focus areas are on Housing, Outreach, Food Insecurity, and HOPE Pregnancy Center.
Through our Outreach Mission, we offer utility assistance, eviction assistance, and supportive services to those struggling to maintain housing, regain stability, and/or to prevent homelessness.
Our Housing Mission includes diversion, emergency rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing through our participation in the Housing Trust Fund: Homeless Reduction Grant, and Harbor Day Shelter – Williamsburg’s only day shelter offering weekday respite to those experiencing homelessness.
Our Food Insecurity Mission offers a one-day a week USDA food distribution and one-day a week food pantry distribution. Each weekday from 12-1, our Community Kitchen distributes an average of 100 lunches to our community and clients.
The HOPE Pregnancy Center offers material support for expectant mothers and new families through the distribution of diapers, wipes, formula, clothing through 2T, maternity clothing, strollers, pack and plays, and car seats. Through work with Williamsburg-James City County Community Action Agency, we participate in a diaper distribution program. Motherhood and Fatherhood support groups meet weekly while expanded programs include Stretch Classes and Nutrition for New Moms.
WHOM’s robust programs and services have led us to become the area’s all-encompassing nonprofit. It is thanks to our supporters and community partners that we have been able to combat the harsh reality that too high a percentage of our area’s residents are living at or below the poverty line level. Our radical hospitality ensures those most vulnerable in our community feel supported and welcomed in our community.
We are an organization rooted in Catholic social teaching principles and are marked by a focus on moral principles, serving the needs of the weak, and in the pursuit of the common good.
We seek a world where the voices of the poor are heard and acted upon. With each project, each action of our team, and each partnership, we see an opportunity to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
We believe that mercy is a verb. In order to promote mercy, we must be merciful to those in need.
The Williamsburg House of Mercy (WHOM) provides food, shelter, comfort, and hope to our poor, homeless, precariously housed, and less fortunate neighbors in our commitment to assist all in need in our community.
We believe that all human life is sacred and each person has inherent dignity from the moment of conception to natural death. We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.
A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers and sisters keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught that if you want peace, work for justice. The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict.
The person is not only sacred but also social. Marriage and the family are the central social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.
The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life, nutrition, housing, health care, education, employment and to practice one’s faith.
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected–the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.
We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.
On December 8, 2015, Pope Francis declared a Holy Year of Mercy, and called on the faithful to live this year in the light of the Lord’s words: ‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’ In honor of the Holy Year of Mercy, the Saint Bede Outreach Center was renamed the Williamsburg House of Mercy and incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit corporation.
In 1979, Sister Berenice Eltz of the Sisters of Mercy left teaching at Walsingham Academy and entered into social ministry at Saint Bede Catholic Church. Often called the “Mother Teresa of Williamsburg,” Sister Berenice touched the lives of countless souls in the Williamsburg community. Saint Bede’s social ministries have seen many faces and changes over the years, but Sister Berenice’s legacy of mercy and service to the poor remains.
Williamsburg House of Mercy is our area’s only care center for the homeless. Dedicated and trained staff and volunteers work daily to meet the needs of the homeless and poor in our community through financial assistance, permanent housing assistance, access to medical care and mental health services, food, transportation, and so much more.
Centrally located in downtown Williamsburg, our proximity to area transportation makes us uniquely accessible to the unsheltered homeless in the community. As Williamsburg House of Mercy became known throughout the homeless community as a safe and welcoming place to receive assistance, we began to see a steady increase in the number of homeless men, women, and families in need of a warm meal, a place to shower, and a place of respite.
We now have the unique opportunity to engage the area homeless in targeted way to provide them with supportive services, access to medical and mental health services, access to computers and jobs, and assistance with housing. Once housed, they are case managed by our Mercy Housing Office until they achieve stability.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Williamsburg House of Mercy, we have opportunities to serve in almost any area. We are currently recruiting for client advocates, food pantry volunteers, housing office assistants, and people to serve in our Make a House a Home ministry. If you are interested in serving in any capacity or just want to talk about your ideas to serve the homeless, contact us at [email protected].