In 1982, ten women at Rockville Presbyterian Church decided they wanted to help the women experiencing homelessness in the City of Rockville by providing a warm, safe place to sleep for any woman who needed it during the winter months. In the first season, Rainbow Place opened with a modest setup. The women who came to the shelter slept on egg crates and were given coffee, hot chocolate, warm oatmeal, and a cup of soup by cheerful and compassionate volunteers. In the second season, Rainbow Place began serving dinner each night. In 2016 Rainbow Place Shelter became an independent non-profit.

Today, Rainbow Place Shelter is a well-respected part of the Montgomery County Continuum of Care in Montgomery County, MD. Our mission is to provide women emergency overnight shelter during the hypothermia season and assist them as they transition to a better quality of life. We work with women, keeping them safe and cared for during the harsh winter months. While we hope for a day without homelessness, we realize that it has not yet arrived. In the meantime, we work together with our staff and community volunteers to ensure that our guests know they are not invisible to us. They are valued and important human beings of worth. With that in mind, our guests receive a warm, safe place to sleep, 3 meals a day, access to showers, laundry facilities, case management, and referrals to local social services, treatment and housing programs. We provide all these services while treating every person with dignity, compassion, and respect.

Rainbow Place’s first priority is to protect its guests from the brutal winter weather. Since its inception, Rainbow has safely sheltered approximately 3000 women. Rainbow also has a firm commitment to improving the quality of life for its guests. Each year Rainbow’s case management program becomes more robust to meet the demands of increasing numbers of guests and their diverse situations. By its 2020-21 season, 93% of Rainbow’s guests participated in case management and 67% moved on to more stable housing situations.

Rainbow is small, but mighty. Large congregant shelters are extremely difficult for many women to navigate. Rainbow’s comforting size and its values set it apart from larger shelters. If guests have specific dietary needs, they will be accommodated. If there is an altercation, those involved are spoken to calmly and politely until a resolution is reached. If someone is in need of care, Rainbow staff will listen and take any action necessary to help. All of Rainbows volunteers and staff members treat our guests as equals. No one is ignored or made to feel invisible. At Rainbow Place, you have a voice and are heard, you have the right to wholesome meals and access to personal hygiene facilities, and you are provided with a safe, warm place to spend the night. The care Rainbow provides is best described by a guest: "When I first arrived at Rainbow Place, I was broken, and I was in addiction. They treated me so well and didn’t judge me for where I was in my life."

It is of the utmost importance that the women who stay at Rainbow Place feel both physically and emotionally safe. The shelter structure is physically secure and each woman is provided with a locker in which to store their valuables. Additionally, our staff ensures that the actual environment feels safe for the women. This is crucial, as many of our guests have vulnerabilities that we need to be sensitive to, such as past trauma and/or mental health concerns. While the shelter is open, at least two staff members are always present to ensure safety—in any sense—is not compromised. Virginia DeSeau, who has worked at Rainbow since its inception says, "From my perspective, Rainbow offers a warmth that goes beyond the physical. Those who come through our doors can feel safe and fairly and equally treated. Our rules are for the good of all and we offer support in any way that we are able. Perhaps our smaller size than other shelters allows us to create a more inclusive environment while recognizing individual needs. The result is a distinctly caring place to stay for a while."

Rainbow Place has a strong connection to service providers and private citizens in the community. Rainbow collaborates with Montgomery County DHHS, InterfaithWorks, EveryMind, Montgomery Coalition for the Homeless, Rockville Community Reach, Bethesda Cares, People Encouraging People, City of Gaithersburg Community Services, and others, and is part of the Rockville Caregivers and Gaithersburg Coalition of Providers. These collaborations are important to best serve guests and eliminate the duplication of services provided, better using resources. Rainbow also provides educational and volunteer opportunities to many organizations and youth groups, also providing Student Service Learning(SSL) hours for students. Through contact with donors and volunteers, staff and leadership continually get feedback from our community partnership. This has never been more important or evident than during the pandemic. The support and positive feedback received from the community and local government has allowed the shelter to shift and meet the ever-changing needs of those we serve. Everyone stepped up and continued to support Rainbow Place both with donations of time, money, food, supplies, and support of our mission.

Rainbow receives referrals from the Montgomery County Crisis Center, County-Wide and Local Homeless Outreach partners, hospitals, treatment programs, and concerned citizens from all over Montgomery County. From its humble beginnings, Rainbow Place has grown to become a vitally important and highly respected part of the local care-giving community.

Point of Contact: 
Olusina Adebayo, 
Executive Director
director@rainbowplace.org

Rainbow Place Shelter for Homeless Women Inc is a 501(c)(3) organization EIN: 47-5082306