The House of Mercy and our founder, Sister Grace Miller, are dedicated to serving and advocating for Rochester, NY’s homeless citizens.

Food, shelter, clothing, advocacy — operating 24/7, the House of Mercy never closes its doors on people in need.

We strive to be a beacon of hope for the poorest of the poor, and we never give up on the thousands of people we serve each month.

In 1985, Sister Grace Miller could see that homelessness was a big problem in Rochester, NY, and there simply weren’t enough shelters to meet the need. Sister Grace immediately went to work, and with help from the Sisters of Mercy, she opened a shelter in a small house on Central Park just north of downtown Rochester.

“As soon as we opened the door, people flooded in,” Sister Grace recalls.

And as need has grown, so too has the House of Mercy, now a permanent homeless shelter and drop-in center on Hudson Ave. serving more than 4,000 people a month.