News and information from St. Patrick’s HavenNovember 11, 2025 A Frightfully Fun Night at St. Patrick’s Haven! 👻 On the scariest night of the year, St. Patrick’s Haven was anything but. Thanks to the generosity of our community, the shelter was filled with laughter, good food, and friendly faces instead of tricks or frights. Our…

News and information from St. Patrick’s HavenApril 17, 2025 Haven Highlights – Shamrock Showdown

Each year, the employees at New Directions Health Care donate the proceeds from their dress down days during the holiday season to St. Patrick’s Haven.  Owner Kara Bennett also presented a donation from New Directions to support our mission.  Many of the New Directions Health Care clients are guests at St. Patrick’s Haven.  No one…

Each year, Burton Funeral Home provides Stockings for Soldiers at Christmas to area non-profits. Because several of our guests are veterans, St. Patrick’s Haven is included in this generous donation.  Burton Funeral Home employees Abby and Austin Knapp recently delivered Christmas stockings for all of the guests at St. Patrick’s Haven.  Thank you, Burton Funeral…

Avery remembered the conversation Betsy Wiest had with her class about homelessness when she was a student at St. Gregory’s School.  Now as an upperclassman at Mercyhurst Prep, she put those memories into action and coordinated a Blessing Bag Project for our guests at St. Patrick’s Haven. Her Blessing Bags contained items such as: socks,…

During Advent, Sandy Hodas and Marge Burbee coordinated the annual Advent Giving Tree for the parishioners of Holy Rosary and St. John’s Churches. The parishioners remember St. Patrick’s Haven each Advent.  Parishioners take an ornament off the tree, which they keep and replace it with much needed items for St. Patrick’s Haven such as:  coffee…

Mercyhurst University students, Alison and Elizabeth Bakowski recently coordinated a collection and made Blessing Bags for New Year’s Eve for our guests at St. Patrick’s Haven.  The students included several items our guests use on a regular basis such as socks, snacks, individual sized toiletries, etc.  Thank you Mercyhurst students for helping make the holiday…

Each year, the students at Our Lady of Peace School spend Advent learning about various nonprofits throughout the area.  Each grade then collects items for their nonprofit.  Once again, St. Patrick’s Haven was the recipient of this very special Advent project.  Under the direction of OLP teacher, Maria Ehrman, students in grades 7-8 learned about…

Margo Keefer loves to knit and once again this year knitted slippers for our guests at St. Patrick’s Haven.  The slippers were part of the Blessings bags given to each guest on Christmas Eve.  Receiving their pair of handmade slippers from Margo has become a Christmas tradition at St. Patrick’s Haven and means that Margo…

The managers at Saint Mary’s Home of Erie chose St. Patrick’s Haven as the recipient of their group Christmas donation this year.  St. Mary’s Home Executive Director, Allen Bonace, presented Betsy Wiest of St. Patrick’s Haven with a check for $1,000!  Thank you, St. Mary’s Home managers, for helping us provide support for the homeless…

A HUGE THANK YOU goes out this week to the residents of Springhill Retirement Center who donated cleaning supplies for St. Patrick’s Haven.  Their generosity is a tremendous help to us.  As you know, keeping things cleaner than usual right now is absolutely necessary in helping to stop the spread of COVID.  Our cleaning crew…

Residents at the Pennsylvania Soldiers and Sailors Home in Erie, Pa recently conducted a collection of hats and gloves for St. Patrick’s Haven.  On any given night, roughly 1/3 of the men who come to St. Patrick’s Haven are veterans.  Thank you to their fellow soldiers and sailors for your caring and your kindness to…

Amy and Keith Szewczyk of Bliley Technologies recently organized a sweatshirt collection for the men at St. Patrick’s Haven.  With the winter weather just around the corner, employees at Bliley wanted to do something to help the homeless men who come to St. Patrick’s each night.  Thank you, Amy, Keith and all of the employees…

Titusville Middle School, under the direction of Margie Axton, recently completed a collection of socks for several area agencies, including St. Patrick’s Haven.  They collected 900 pair of socks which will help many people in the upcoming cold winter months.  As Margie said, “That is a great accomplishment for a little school in a small…

St. Patrick’s Haven began 37 years ago because parishioners at St. Patrick’s Church were concerned about the homeless men in the area.  That concern continues today.  The Knights and Ladies of St. Patrick’s Church donated 24 new winter coats for the men at the Haven.  With winter just around the corner, they wanted to make…

Once again, Kim Davis of the Erie Federal Credit Union, delivered socks, hats and gloves from their annual “Socktoberfest” event for St. Patrick’s Haven.  Erie Federal Credit Union continues to partner with St. Patrick’s Haven in supporting homeless men in Erie.  Socks are the #1 item requested by our guests.  Dry, warm feet can make…

Mary Temple and the members of “Sew What?” recently made and donated hats, scarves and hoods to St. Patrick’s Haven.  These items will help keep our guests warm on those cold winter days.  The hoods they designed will not only keep someone’s head covered but also will warm their neck.  What a creative idea! Thank…

Anna Turco loves to knit.  She created beautiful, handmade winter hats for our guests at St. Patrick’s Haven.  Each hat is different – just like our guests. Each hat is a work of art.  Thank you, Anna, for sharing your amazing talent with St. Patrick’s Haven.  You are our newest Haven Angel!

The McDowell High School Exposure Club under the direction of Teri Sinnott, recently collected funds, 42 pair of gloves, 60 hats and 295 pair of socks for St. Patrick’s Haven at the recent McDowell/Prep football game.  The Explorer Club learns about social issues in our area and then develops creative ways in which they can…

The student councils at both Villa Maria Academy and Cathedral Preparatory School recently donated the proceeds from their dress down day to St. Patrick’s Haven.  Sr. Marianne Stuckert, SSJ from the Guidance office presented the funds to Betsy Wiest. Thank you, Villa and Prep students, for recognizing a need in our community and then finding…

37 years ago, St. Patrick’s Church was instrumental in starting St. Patrick’s Haven which eventually became a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph.  However, St. Patrick’s Church still partners with us to support the men who come to us each night seeking shelter from the streets.  Angie Kontur from St. Patrick’s recently delivered…

Parishioners from Flightpath Fellowship created a footcare clinic for homeless individuals. Harvest 912 works to change lives – one sole at a time. They recently held a foot care clinic at St. Patrick’s Haven.  The team, under the direction of Kit and Tad, washed the feet of each guest. Dr. Joshua Britten, Podiatrist, then cared…

Katie Schwenk, from St. Mark’s Church and Mount Calvary in Erie, PA, recently delivered blessing bags for the men at St. Patrick’s Haven.  Each bag contained items needed on a daily basis for the guests at St. Patrick’s Haven such as new socks, a bottle of water, individually wrapped snacks and hotel sized toiletries.  The…

The ladies of St. Joseph Church Bread of Life Prayer Shawl Ministry have been hard at work knitting winter scarves for the homeless men who come to St. Patrick’s Haven.  Although it is only September, we all know winter comes early in Erie, PA.  The scarves will go a long way in keeping our guests…

Thank You to Connecting Hands for making St. Patrick’s Haven the recipient of their recent household sale.  Thank you also to our Board members who assisted with the sale. This was no ordinary sale. They had EVERYTHING you can imagine.  All of the items were clean and in great shape.  The funds donated by Connecting…

Connecting Hands will be donating the proceeds of their upcoming sale to St. Patrick’s Haven. They have furniture, kitchenware, linens, jewelry, Halloween and Fall items and so much more! The sale will be held on Friday, September 17th from 3-7 p.m. and Saturday, September 18th from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at 3716 McClelland Avenue,…

The VFW Post 740 honored St. Patrick’s Haven at their recent Bike Night.  All proceeds from their games of chance were donated to St. Patrick’s Haven by Post Commander John Hayden and Quartermaster Wendi Hayden.  Haven Board Members Terry Holmes and Betsy Wiest as well as friend of the Haven, Dave Wiest, were on hand…

St. Patrick’s Haven provides a clean, safe, place for our guests to sleep after a long day on the streets.  The group, Sew What, organized by Kathy Camp has assured that our guests also have fresh, new, colorful pillowcases!  Sew What is group of volunteers who sew pillowcases for their neighbors in need.  Thank you,…

Under the direction of Youth Director Carly Rowe and The Reverend Melinda Hall of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, students participating in their summer day camp learned about homelessness.  Betsy Wiest talked with the students about homelessness in Erie and the changes St. Patrick’s Haven made to assure our staff and guests are safe during the…

Sara’s Restaurant, located at the foot of Peninsula Drive in Erie, PA, recently selected St. Patrick’s Haven as recipient of their weekly “Sara’s Smiles” program.  Owner, Sean Candela, awarded St. Patrick’s Haven with a donation as well as gift cards for ice cream and food which were used for our guests. Thank you, Sean, for…

Thank you to all who supported St. Patrick’s Haven on Erie Gives Day, August 10, 2021!  Why do we have a St. Patrick’s Haven?  Because we have neighbors in need and your Erie Gives donations will help us continue our mission of providing a safe place of welcome, food and comfort for the homeless men…

Why do we have a St. Patrick’s Haven?  Because we have neighbors in need, and they need our help! For over 35 years, St. Patrick’s Haven has provided emergency overnight shelter to homeless men in Erie. On August 10th, St. Patrick’s Haven will take part in Erie Gives Day, in collaboration with the Erie Community…

Thank you ServErie!  Thank you for helping us with our project to paint the “cubbies” in the storage room where our guests store their belongings.  Volunteers Zachary Coon and Andy Boncella did an amazing job giving the room a much-needed fresh coat of paint on June 12th.  Zachary, Andy and ServErie – thank you for…

Girl Scout Troop 36764, 6th grade students from Westlake and Walnut Creek Middle Schools, under the direction of their leader, Michelle Tanner, recently donated several boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to St. Patrick’s Haven.  Part of the Troop’s cookie sales is an annual Troop Gift of Giving.  The girls chose St. Patrick’s Haven as their…

Audrey Wetterau, a 12-year-old student in Pittsburgh, began collecting socks for the homeless 2 years ago.  Her non-profit, Socks With a Mission, recently donated several boxes of socks for the men at St. Patrick’s Haven.  Audrey’s mother, Amy, made the trip from Pittsburgh to Erie to deliver the socks.  Audrey and Socks With a Mission…