Starting July 1, UPC is the administrator of the Overnight Center at UPC, working in partnership with the Broome County Urban League.
In response to the ongoing need for emergency accommodation in our community, the Overnight Center is open 7 nights a week, from 5pm to 9am. This is a 3-month pilot program from July 1 through September 30, 2026, funded by a Community Development Block Grant from the City of Binghamton. We anticipate that the need for emergency accommodations will extend into the Code Blue season and are working to secure funding to continue operation of the Overnight Center beyond the end of September.
UPC invites faith-based organizations, community groups, businesses, and individuals to join us in welcoming our unhoused neighbors during the Summer 2026 Pilot. No contribution is too small and no partner of good will is turned away.
We are seeking volunteers to support the daily operations of the Overnight Center at UPC. Tasks include:
(Flexible shifts available)
The United Presbyterian Church of Binghamton and the Broome County Urban League are looking for houses of worship, community groups, or businesses to sign up to provide meals for the Overnight Center at UPC.
The Overnight Center will welcome up to 50 homeless guests each night to provide a safe place to sleep overnight as well as dinner, and light breakfast.
You can sign up to provide a meal or recurring meals on SignUp Genius:
or contact our Community Kitchen Coordinator Sherry Conklin at meal@upcbgm.org or 607-722-4219 to get more information.
Meals are required to be prepared in a kitchen that has a Health Department Certificate and at least one volunteer needs to have a current ServSafe* certificate for safe meal preparation.
The kitchen at United Presbyterian is Health Department certified and available if your group wants to arrange to cook there, and our meal coordinator can supervise providing the ServSafe requirement if your group would like to help but doesn’t have the certifications. (Contact Sherry first before you sign up if you need this arrangement.)
*ServSafe certification can be taken online for $15.00 and is approximately a 1½-hour online course with 10-minute modules and a 1-hour multiple choice test. After you pass the test you will receive a certificate to print. The certification is good for 3 years. You can click here to go to the ServSafe website for the ServSafe Food Handler training.
We anticipate that we will be seeking donations of various supplies. An Amazon Wishlist will be published soon.
Financial donations are always welcome.
We have hired and trained full-time staff for the Overnight Center, and are still seeking part-time/substitute staff. For more information, contact us at staffsearch@upcbgm.org.
For organizations and businesses wishing to offer a more formal arrangement, we invite letters of interest from:
