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Note to Volunteers
If you need to check your specific volunteer slot (day and time), please call either Tom or Diane. Their cell numbers are below:
Tom Eckman: 434.604.6036
Diane Benham: 434.227.2516
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PACEM’s mission is “To bring together the faith community of the greater Charlottesville area to provide temporary shelter, compassionate support, and access to services to homeless individuals, so they can move to a stable housing solution. This work can only be achieved by forging partnerships in the larger community.”
20 years of helping people in need
We share a compassion for our neighbors in crisis
Church of INCARNATION is Hosting
JAN 11 through Jan 25 IN THE PAC
The PAC will be a safe and loving place where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We will be serving 36 men each night for two weeks.
“Extending hospitality re-establishes connection, welcoming
everyone into a safe, personal, and comfortable space, a place
of respect and acceptance and friendship.”
Richard Hopkins
History and Philosophy of PACEM (A Shelter of Last Resort)
In 2003, Charlottesville clergy and homeless advocates created PACEM after members of the Downtown Ministerial Alliance shared the experience of showing up for work in the morning and regularly finding homeless neighbors sleeping in the doorways.
The 2004 Homeless Census – conducted by the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless (TJACH )– supported the experience of the downtown clergy. Dozens of individuals were living in the streets, in the woods, in their cars, in abandoned buildings, behind garbage dumpsters, or around churches in the middle of winter. With a pressing need for shelter, the Downtown Ministerial Alliance and TJACH joined together. They gave their grassroots initiative the name PACEM – an acronym for People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, a word that also comes from the phrase for peace: Dona Nobis PACEM.
Based on a rotating shelter model from Richmond, PACEM opened during the winter of 2004. As we prepare for our 13th season this upcoming winter, PACEM has provided nearly 80,000 total nights of shelter for people who are homeless in our community. Along the way, we have learned that homelessness is not simply “house”-lessness. To be homeless is to lack roots, ties to place, and a sense of belonging. Extending hospitality re-establishes this connection.* (Source: Richard Hopkins)
PACEM believes that a welcoming, safe place to shelter is the first step to addressing the crisis of homelessness. Sharing a compassion for our neighbors in crisis, we bring the members of nearly 80 congregations and groups together each winter to address the need for shelter in our community.
Our Mission
PACEM’s mission is "To bring together the faith community of the greater Charlottesville area to provide temporary shelter, compassionate support, and access to services to homeless individuals, so they can move to a stable housing solution. This work can only be achieved by forging partnerships in the larger community.”
PACEM has been providing a low-barrier homeless shelter in Charlottesville for the last 20 years. Guests with a criminal record, those who are intoxicated, and those dealing with drug addiction and mental illness are not turned away. This shelter, designed with accessibility and compassion at its core, opens its doors to everyone, regardless of their circumstances. PACEM is part of a whole community safety net, and our guests come from every walk of life. Some of our guests are working, and some cannot find jobs. Some of our guests may be on the verge of giving up hope, and the nightly stability of a welcoming environment and a warm meal can make all the difference during a cold winter. PACEM volunteers are accepting and understanding, and the shelter is free from the usual prerequisites or documentation that often hinder access to essential services.
Watch a short video (~3 minutes) on “What is PACEM?”
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