SANDPOINT — It’s always nice when a church community adopts a cause and offers its ongoing support. Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, which serves Sandpoint and Dover, has been doing that since the first Episcopal congregation formed here in 1905.

More recently, its members have become benefactors for Bonner Homeless Transitions, which provides transitional housing, crisis intervention and case management to families in Bonner County.

On Saturday, Oct. 13, the church will host “An Early Autumn Event” designed to raise money for the organization. The event will include a featured artisan, as well as a homemade luncheon and enough baked goods to satisfy even the most aggressive sweet tooth.

Holy Spirit parishioner and Clark Fork resident Stephanie Ashford-Brown will be on hand to show wares from her Olive Branch Soap Co. and to give a soap-making demonstration. Back in the kitchen, church volunteers will be serving a soup and bread luncheon, while all manner of baked goods will be available for purchase.

Money raised during the day will be routed into continued support for Bonner Homeless Transitions, according to parishioner Susie Summerhill, who said the group’s needs change with the tenants who move into the Blue Haven transitional housing center and the annex immediately next door.

“(BHT) will send us an email for a need they have and we go shopping,” she said.

“This church furnishes us with paper goods, household items, canned food, bedding — everything we need,” said Joanne Barlow, of Bonner Homeless Transitions, who also listed Sandpoint’s United Methodist Church as a major, monthly contributor. “We do a lot of fundraisers and we have groups and individuals who give, but at Holy Spirit Episcopal, the giving has been continuous.”

“It’s like a full circle for us,” said Vira Melendez-Redman, whose husband, Nolan Redman, is the vicar at the church.

When he stepped into that role, Vira was resolute about using her position as vicar’s wife to create a community outreach program for the church.

“That gave me permission to snoop around and do whatever I wanted as far as outreach,” she said. “I took it upon myself to see what we could be doing to help here in Sandpoint. I spoke with Tamie Martinsen (of BHT), we met and it started.

“This community is very small, but we’re mighty,” Melendez-Redman added. “It has been a great partnership.”

Describing its service as a “transition center” to permanent housing, as opposed to a shelter, Bonner Homeless Transition currently has nine adults and 12 children living in the variously sized apartments at Blue Haven. During the one-year period between 2016-’17, the organization provided a total of nearly 13,000 “bed nights” to families in transition. On average, approximately 65 percent of those served each year are children.

Along with furnished housing, BHT also helps with transportation and classes for residents on topics such as budgeting, parenting, job-hunting and interview skills. Residents must be drug-free, with random drug testing mandated as part of the living arrangement. According to BHT statistics, more than 85 percent of transitional residents go on to find permanent housing.

“The average length of stay has been about 14 months,” Barlow said. “We kind of put people wherever we have room. Right now, with the tight housing situation, people have been staying longer.”

Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development has cut funding for transition centers, opting instead for a “housing first” approach to assisting homeless families. That might be a workable plan in locations where affordable housing is plentiful, less so in the Sandpoint area, where rentals can be pricey and buying a home is out of reach for those bringing home smaller paychecks from minimum wage jobs.

“That HUD money really funded a lot,” said Barlow, adding that BHT now tries to fill the chinks with fundraisers, while relying more heavily on the support of churches such as United Methodist and Holy Spirit Episcopal. “We couldn’t afford things like paper goods and food without this kind of help.”

In that light, the Oct. 13 fundraiser is set to introduce attendees to a local artisan, while drumming up financial support in the tastiest way possible. The luncheon will offer the choice of potato, tomato-basil, or bean and ham soup with a hot roll and butter for the price of $5.

“And we’ll have multiple goods at the bake sale,” Summerhill said. “There will be everything from homemade bread to cheesecakes, cookies, muffins and pies, including gluten-free items.

“This is the first time we’ve done something on this scale,” she added. “We’ve done other events, but nothing like this.”

“I hope it’s the first of many,” Melendez-Redman said.

“An Early Autumn Event” will be held on Saturday, Oct. 13, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Highway 2 and Rocky Point Road in Dover. The soap-making demonstration will take place at 11 a.m.

For information on the event, call the church at 208-263-7078.

To find out more about Bonner Homeless Transitions, go online to bonnerhomelesstransitions.org.