WINTER 2024 · THE 30-NIGHTS FUND
From December 15 to January 15, our warming center on Alder Street is the only shelter in Millbrook: 45 beds, a hot meal at 6 and at 10, and a nurse on every shift. The 30-Nights Fund keeps it running through the coldest month of the year — if you help fill it.
OPEN EVERY WINTER SINCE 2018 · 0 NIGHTS CLOSED
01 — THE NEED
Millbrook is not a crisis city. It's a town of 41,000 people with one warming center, one meal line, and no winter housing pipeline. When the temperature drops, there is simply no second option — which is exactly why this fund exists.
READ LAST WINTER'S NUMBERSpeople experiencing homelessness in Millbrook, per the 2024 point-in-time count — up 18% in two years.
SOURCE: CITY OF MILLBROOK, 2024 POINT-IN-TIME COUNT
NEAREST ALTERNATIVE
The next shelter is 22 miles south in Ashland — a 50-minute bus ride in December, if the bus runs.
HOSPITALS
An ER is not a shelter. In 2023, 41 unhoused people were held overnight in the emergency room because there was nowhere else to send them.
RECORD COLD
Millbrook's December low in 2018 hit −6°. Hypothermia risk climbs sharply once overnight temperatures stay near freezing — and they did, for 23 nights last winter.
02 — YOUR GIFT, ITEMIZED
No "your gift makes a difference" fog. Pick an amount and we'll show you, line by line, exactly what it buys on the night shift.
DONATE — 30 NIGHTS FUND
You'll see exactly what your money covers before you give a cent.
A receipt is on its way to your inbox. The front desk says hello — and so do we.
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE · SECURE · CANCEL MONTHLY ANYTIME
Hot meal
Dinner service, plated and hot
$3.10
PER UNIT
Bed-night
Warm bed, privacy curtain, lockable shelf
$4.20
PER UNIT
Socks
New, 100% — the first ask of winter
$2.40
PER PAIR
Winter coat
Name-brand, sizes XS–3XL, washed and ready
$38.00
PER COAT
Night nurse shift
11 PM–7 AM: med checks, warmth checks, one human who stays
$110.00
PER SHIFT
Case worker hour
IDs, benefits, bus passes, housing applications
$46.00
PER HOUR
FY24 UNIT COSTS, INDEPENDENTLY AUDITED. THE FULL LEDGER IS IN OUR FORM 990.
03 — LAST WINTER, IN NUMBERS
0
Meals served
Twice daily, seven days a week, all winter
0
Bed-nights
The center never closed — not one night
0
People into stable housing
And counting through the spring
0
Documents restored
IDs, birth certificates, driver's licenses
"The measure of this place isn't the soup. It's the phone call a guest makes to their daughter at 9 p.m. — because the phone is charged and the room is warm."
04 — PEOPLE, NOT STATISTICS
MARCUS T., 54 · 41 NIGHTS
Marcus lost his warehouse job in October and his apartment in November. He spent 41 nights at the Lantern — and used them the way the casework team hoped: to make calls, fix his license, hold a routine. "I just needed a place to sleep that wasn't a car."
NOW — EASTSIDE TWO-BEDROOM · LUMBER YARD, MORNINGS
DELIA R., 39 · 212 NIGHTS
Delia arrived with her daughter and two suitcases. Three weeks later the casework team had rebuilt her ID and driver's license; by January she had an apartment with a lease in both their names. She now bakes for the Lantern's own meal line. She insists on it.
NOW — BAKERY MORNINGS · LEASE IN BOTH THEIR NAMES
SMALL WINS THIS MONTH
05 — WHERE THE MONEY GOES
Programs & services — 92¢ of every dollar
Fundraising — 5¢
Administration — 3¢
THE 30-NIGHTS FUND · BUDGET
Heating & power
$31,000
Food & kitchen
$24,500
Staffing — nurse, social worker, night lead
$22,000
Supplies — coats, socks, hygiene
$5,500
Emergency reserve
$3,000
Total
$86,000
Raise more than $86,000? The excess funds the spring bridge program — the 60 days between winter grants ending and the next cycle starting.
06 — FAIR QUESTIONS
Yes. The Millbrook Lantern is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 84-2210463). You'll get a receipt by email immediately; gifts under $75 are documented on your annual giving statement.
First come, first served. No questions about documents, ID, or history — our intake policy is one page long and posted at the door. If we're full, the night team calls the two shelters in Ashland before anyone is turned away.
We keep the center open on the same budget and direct the surplus to the spring bridge program — the 60-day gap between winter funding ending and the next grant cycle, when most shelters have already closed.
Yes. Choose "memorial" at checkout and tell us their name. We'll note it in the winter newsletter and send you a card from the Alder Street kitchen.
Intake notes are shared only with the guest's case worker and, with written consent, with housing partners. We do not sell or share guest data. Period.
THE FUND CLOSES JANUARY 15
A bed-night costs $4.20. A monthly gift of $25 covers six of them — every month, for the whole cold season, so next winter is already funded before the first frost.
30-NIGHTS FUND
$61,240 raised · 12 days left