Every day at Haywood Street, we navigate the Holy and Chaotic intersections of law, Christian theology, public health, and safety. Our Friends drag the weight of warrants, poverty, illness, and injury onto our campus, and while much of the world seeks to cuff, cage and restrict, it is our calling to unshackle, embrace, and overwhelm with more than just enough. At Haywood Street, the marginalized are prioritized; the back of the line is always tended to first.

Haywood Street is a church that supports both science and personal choice, and as a staff, we understand the CDC and Gov. Cooper’s most recent guidelines. We also recognize that at Haywood Street, we live, work and breathe amongst those on the margins; that our population is not representative of the larger population, and that we remain a highly vulnerable community in need of its own considerations. 

 At this time, our policy and approach is as follows:

•  Wearing a mask is an individual choice that should be led by love and care for your neighbor. 
• Mask wearing will not be required (with the exception of the staff and companions of Haywood Street Respite), but we encourage keeping one on your person at all times.
• Wellness stations will continue to provide access to thermometers, masks, and hand sanitizer.
• We continue to support and encourage vaccinations.

And while this may feel like yet more changes in a change-heavy year, please know that, quite simply, we are being asked to do what we always do, in every situation that arises at Haywood Street – to meet each other where we are, to live into our mission, ‘relationship, above all else‘, to operate from a place of abundant grace, and to respect one another in a way that supersedes, and is not subject to, the volatility of any mandate.

Thank you for your mindfulness as we move forward, together.