ABOUT US
Mission & Vision
Founded in 2010, Chaplains On The Way is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that offers spiritual support to people experiencing homelessness in Waltham, MA. We believe that no person living in homelessness should feel they have to walk alone. We live out our mission by building trusting relations with people in Waltham, MA who are experiencing homelessness and struggling with mental health and/or substance use issues. We offer compassion and companionship through life’s struggles and triumphs, welcoming all into relationship and loving community.
Our chaplains sit with people of any and all faiths, or no particular faith, to listen, bear witness, and share spiritual resources. We also accompany people as they navigate resources related to housing, employment, health care, and hospice. Our mission calls us to support housed and unhoused people as they work together to build more integrated, innovative forms of community.
HISTORY
Chaplains on the Way began in 2010, when Rev. Joan Murray, a United Church of Christ minister, began walking along the streets of Waltham to meet people experiencing homelessness. Rev. Murray’s intent was to offer a ministry of presence on the streets, at soup kitchens, and in shelters. Rev. Murray’s vision of meeting unhoused people where they were (both physically and spiritually) was well received by people experiencing homelessness; Rev. Murray reached out to the local universities and began training chaplain interns.
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In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, unhoused people found many of the places they normally frequented closed or unavailable. In collaboration with the First Parish in Waltham UU, Chaplains on the Way launched a Breakfast Program, so that when the shelters closed at 7:30 each morning, people experiencing homelessness would have a warm and safe place to be, where nourishing food and spiritual companionship were offered to all. When the pandemic subsided, the Breakfast Program continued.
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Chaplains on the Way is a non-denominational interfaith organization, dedicated to spiritual and physical nurture of unhoused members of the Waltham community. Today, our work is led by Executive Director Michael Jones, Director of Chaplaincy, Rev. Marc Fredette, and supported by chaplain interns, several part-time chaplains, and many volunteers, all from a variety of faith backgrounds and traditions. We continue to offer spiritual companionship to people experiencing homelessness in Waltham, wherever they may be. In addition to a ministry of presence, we offer one-to-one spiritual direction; hold weekly interfaith prayer services; and provide a home-cooked breakfast five days a week.
OUR PARTNERS
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