Shenandoah University Celebrates 15 Years of Partnership With Local Transitional Shelter

By Jace Gibson ’26

This year marks 15 years of partnership between Shenandoah University and the Winchester Area Temporary Transitional Shelter (WATTS), a community resource for individuals experiencing homelessness in and around the city of Winchester. Since 2011, Shenandoah has helped WATTS provide this vital community resource by providing volunteers, meals, and items essential to the shelter’s operation.

WATTS is a low-barrier shelter that is open to all those experiencing homelessness. The program began in 2009 following the death of a Winchester local to freezing temperatures. Following this, a group of local, faith-based leaders came together, opening their churches’ doors to serve as shelters for the local community. The first overnight shelter opened November 2009, and WATTS has continued to provide that service to the community each winter since.

Shenandoah’s volunteer efforts with WATTS date back to at least January 2011. At that time, said University Chaplain DeLyn Celec, Shenandoah’s Office of Spiritual Life, in coordination with the university’s dining services, purchased food from the dining hall at a deeply discounted rate to deliver to WATTS, using money raised from tithes and offerings collected during its worship services and other fundraising initiatives. Additionally, Spiritual Life recruited volunteers from around the university – including students, faculty, staff and alumni – to serve dinner at WATTS locations, mingle with guests and, sometimes, host a “jam session” with guitars and singing, Celec said.

Since then, WATTS has become a centerpiece of Shenandoah’s community service efforts. The student-led Food Recovery Network meets twice a week to recover leftovers from Allen Dining Hall to be sent to and served at the Montague Avenue United Methodist Church, which hosts the WATTS daytime warming center. Additionally, the Center for Civic Engagement sends groups of student, staff and faculty volunteers each Sunday from November to March to help serve meals to WATTS guests. On average, roughly fifty meals are served each trip.

The experience of serving a meal to an actual community member who may, in that moment, not have a home can be extremely impactful to a volunteer. We are fortunate that this opportunity is embedded in our community service programming, so that each year multiple small groups of students can participate, and are grateful to the many coaches and leaders of student organizations who encourage and support their students in this endeavor. Our own SU community benefits greatly from the collective experience of serving others.”

Rebecca Gibson, director of the Center for Civic Engagement

The Center for Civic Engagement also hosts regular volunteer and fundraising events to give back to the Winchester community via WATTS. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2026, students gathered to pack general and feminine hygiene kits for donation to the shelter. In total, they packed 200 hygiene kits that were then distributed to the WATTS warming center. CCE also sends a Shenandoah team each year to the “Coldest Night of the Year” event, a nationwide awareness walk and fundraiser that benefits local organizations that support individuals experiencing homelessness, hunger and other hardships. This year’s “Coldest Night of the Year” event takes place on Feb. 28, and all SU faculty, staff and students are invited to join them.

The Center for Civic Engagement’s commitment to giving back through community service extends beyond its collaboration with WATTS. CCE also operates Buzzy’s Food Pantry, which aids students, faculty and staff facing food insecurity by providing pantry items, refrigerated and frozen foods, and hygiene products. In November 2025, CCE hosted a food drive to help those affected by the government shutdown, collecting 925 pounds of nonperishable food that were delivered to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. 

“It was truly fascinating to see how quickly we got donations on day one of the drive,” said Fabiola Vazquez Becerra ’25. “The project became so huge that by the end of the week, we had the office full of boxes of food! Our fabulous Shenandoah faculty and staff made such a huge impact on our local community that week. I’m beyond proud of the Center for Civic Engagement for organizing this drive, and for our SU community for helping combat food insecurity.”

For more information about the Center for Civic Engagement, or their respective volunteer opportunities, visit su.edu/service. More information about WATTS, including how and where to volunteer, is available at watts-homelessshelter.org.