After more than four decades of offering women meals and somewhere warm to stay during peak hypothermia season, a Montgomery County, Maryland, women’s shelter recently learned it will have to find somewhere new to offer those services.
Rainbow Place Shelter has been based out of Rockville’s Presbyterian Church since it started, and in about 44 years, it’s served about 3,000 women, according to Executive Director Olusina Adebayo. The nonprofit has also helped place women into permanent living accommodations and offered case management.
But about two months ago, Adebayo said the group learned the church site was going to be sold. All the tenants in the building, including the shelter, must be out by the end of June.
“A lot of faith-based institutions, as people have gone to digital platforms like Zoom, have started to face some financial instability,” Adebayo said. “This property is going to be up for sale, and that puts us and other tenants in this building in a situation where we’re going to (have to) find opportunities and space elsewhere.”
The shelter’s current space has 28 beds and has typically welcomed women between Nov. 1 and April 1. They’re not available on a first-come, first-served basis. Instead, once someone has a bed secured, they can use it for the entire winter.
While it’s operating, the shelter is open for sleeping accommodations from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Volunteers help serve three meals each day.
A February survey found the number of people who are homeless fell 26% in Montgomery County — Maryland’s largest locality. But Adebayo said the shelter’s beds are still full every night, and while street and family homelessness may be down, “in terms of individuals, especially women experiencing homelessness, that hasn’t been our experience.”
“We’ve had teachers come through here, people that work in hospitals, case managers,” Adebayo said. “These are individuals that, 20 years ago, what they were making would be more than enough to have an efficiency or one-bedroom apartment, but that’s not the case anymore.”
The shelter, which is funded through donations and county and state money, is working with the county’s Department of Health and Human Services to find a new space. In doing so, Adebayo said the shelter is hoping to settle on one big enough to expand service offerings year-round.
“The need is so abundant right now, so we’re looking at this as a time to pivot and do more, because there’s more to be done,” Adebayo said.
For one, the shelter is hoping to reach young adults experiencing homelessness, particularly those ages 18 to 24.
“They experience homelessness in a much different way than the ones we serve at the shelters right now,” Adebayo said. “So that shelter would be the first 24/7, 365 of its kind in the county.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
