Charleston religious leader, homeless advocate dies
Friday, May 2, 2014
By Travis Crum, Staff writer
E. David DuBois, former pastor of Christ Church United Methodist and founding president of the Religious Coalition for Community Renewal, died Friday after a brief illness. He was 87.
DuBois founded the Religious Coalition in 1986, uniting dozens of West Virginia’s places of worship to address Charleston’s homelessness problem. Together they created the Samaritan Inn, located at 1117 Quarrier St., a transitional residential living facility for up to 12 homeless men at a time. The Religious Coalition has grown into a membership of more than 30 interfaith congregations that continues to find people decent, affordable housing.
DuBois was a man who saw a homelessness epidemic in Charleston and then developed a grand vision to help it, said W.I. Bill Hairston, social services director at the Religious Coalition.
“Back then, they were trying to figure out what to do, and David said, ‘let’s start with a shelter for homeless men that was more than just a shelter, but a place that men could transition their lives,’” Hairston said.
http://wvgazette.com/article/20140502/GZ01/140509817/1101
He was 60 when he started this.
http://www.rccr.org/RCCR/