River of Refuge has made a commitment to help the hidden homeless, families living in pay-by-the-week motels and unable to save enough for deposits, down payments or able to pay off debt. RoR is a nonprofit created to provide free temporary housing and other services to the working poor to help get them back on their feet.  

Each month we tackle a variety of tasks which may include cleaning, sorting donations, moving furniture, preparing rooms for new arrivals and other odd jobs. All ages are welcome, those under 18 will need to have a guardian present to sign a liability waiver.

DRESS: Wear comfortable clothing you won’t mind getting dirty and close toe shoes. You may want to bring your own work gloves and a refillable water bottle.

PLEASE READ: River of Refuge is in the former Park Lane Hospital and located next to Two Rivers Psychiatric Hosptial, they share the same address and google maps will try to send you to the wrong place. The MAP below shows where you need to turn so you won’t get lost or call me (Selena) at 816-582-7857 for help. Directions: Once you turn off Raytown Road you should see the River of Refuge banner, take a right at the fork and go uphill to the doctor’s office building, which will be a left turn at the top of the hill. 

This event also repeats every 1st Thursday, if you can’t join us this month, hopefully you’ll be able to join us next month.

Waitlist: If an event is full volunteers can join the waitlist. If a spot opens up, you are automatically added to the attending list in the order you joined the waitlist. Please remove yourself from the waitlist if you make other plans so the next available person can join in the event of a last minute cancellation. 

River of Refuge was conceived after John Wiley witnessed a group of children boarding a school bus from the parking lot of an old, run-down motel near his home in Raytown, Mo. Converting the vacant Park Lane Hospital from an eyesore to community asset to help working families become self-sufficient seemed like a plausible solution.

The first phase of construction began in July of 2014 with the doctor’s offices attached to the former hospital. Currently 11 family units have been finished on the 1st floor with additional units to begin construction Summer of 2016.