About us

Shelter, support, and a way back home

Homeward Bound exists to offer shelter and support to people experiencing homelessness in Wooster and Wayne County, and to help them regain stability with dignity.

Our mission

A safe place, and a path forward

We give our neighbors a safe and welcoming place to be, then walk with them as they work back toward stability. That means meeting basic needs first, food, shelter, and hygiene, so a person has the footing to take the next step.

We believe homelessness is a problem a community can solve when it decides to. Wooster has decided to.

Our vision

A community where everyone has a home

We picture a Wayne County where no one has to sleep outside, where a hard season does not cost someone their safety, and where help is close by when life comes apart.

Getting there means treating the roots of homelessness, not just the night in front of us, with lasting change and renewed hope.

Nine Homeward Bound staff and volunteers standing outside the front doors of the day center and overnight shelter, with hanging baskets of purple flowers on either side.
The front door at 981 Grosjean Road, and the people who open it.

Who we serve

Our neighbors, in every situation

Homelessness does not look like one thing. The people who come to our door are as different as the county itself.

  • Families facing a sudden job loss or crisis
  • Veterans navigating housing and mental health
  • People in recovery or managing mental health
  • Neighbors who have been homeless for years
  • LGBTQ+ individuals experiencing homelessness
  • Anyone afraid of losing food or a roof

How we got here

A vacant building, rebuilt by this county

981 Grosjean Road sat empty and stripped back to the block. It was gutted, reframed, and finished into the day center and overnight shelter that opens its doors today. Much of the work inside, the bunk beds, the kitchen, the furniture, was put together by volunteers.

The vacant building at 981 Grosjean Road before renovation: painted grey block walls with red pillars, boarded windows, and overgrown shrubs.
Before A vacant commercial building, boarded up and overgrown.
The same building mid-renovation, wrapped in housewrap with a newly framed timber gable and entrance over bare ground.
During Stripped back, reframed, and rebuilt from the shell out.
The finished shelter: cream siding, a stone base, timber porch posts, and glass double doors under a shingled gable.
Today Open every day of the year, for anyone who needs it.

How we work

Help from people who understand

Some of the people on our team have been where our guests are. They have known what it is to have nowhere to sleep, and they bring that understanding to every shift. It is why we lead with empathy and treat people as people, not cases.

"Our goal is to provide a safe and welcoming environment while empowering individuals to regain stability."

Day to day, that looks like a warm bed, three meals, a hot shower, clean laundry, and a caseworker who helps connect the dots to mental health care, benefits, jobs, and housing. We do not do it alone. We do it with partners across the county.

A look inside

This is what your support builds

Open house days, church groups in the kitchen, donation drives, and a bed made up and waiting. Every photo here was taken at Homeward Bound.

Neighbours arriving on a sunny day for an open house, walking up the path to the shelter entrance.
Seven women standing together in front of the painted "You belong here" wall inside the day center.
Four volunteers in work clothes and caps laughing together during a build day at the shelter.
Two volunteers behind the kitchen counter with bowls of salad, fruit, and watermelon laid out for a meal.
A group of eight volunteers gathered around the serving counter with slow cookers and desserts ready for dinner.
Volunteers standing behind tables stacked with donated toilet paper, paper towels, and household supplies from a drive.
A corner of a sleeping room with bunk beds and a single bed made up, beside a window looking out on trees.
A full room of visitors seated and standing in the day center during a community open house.

Our partners

It takes a whole community

More than 60 churches and organizations cook meals and support our guests, alongside these partners.

OneEighty Mental Health & Recovery Board of Wayne & Holmes Wayne County Veterans Service Commission Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank A Whole Community Inc. Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry

Be part of it

Help keep the door open

Your gift and your time keep shelter, meals, and hope available to our neighbors every day of the year.

Donate today Volunteer with us