At Welcome we believe that all people need to be fed in their mind, body, spirit and stomach. Poverty has made it difficult for some individuals to gain the access the food they need to survive. We not only provide food for those in need, but we also help our guests learn sustainable ways to secure food in the future. At Welcome there are no lines, we serve resturant style (bringing food to seated guests) and always eat with our guests. As a result, our meals are community building experiences that help those who are often marginalized to learn social skills, feel connected to their community and to provide us with direct feedback about our programs.

Urban Food Share: The Urban Food Share Program will work to create a community space to learn about nutrition and the slow food movement.  This will include individual guidance for people to discover their own particular dietary needs and create a model for sharing food that uses a choice and empowerment model to explore ways to enable individuals with little or no access to a kitchen, refrigerator or microwave to eat healthier.  We also hope to create a community gardening space so that our guests can have a closer connection to the foods they are eating.

The Welcome Center: Every Tuesday from 2-4 pm Welcome offers a light lunch to guests in a safe communal setting, where guests and volunteers eat together.  Here members of the community are able to fill their hunger and gain access to the other support services that Welcome has to offer.  Many of the guests at this meal have been homeless for more than 20 years, so slowly helping people become comfortable with socialization is a big part of what we do.  Welcome Center guests make appointments with Jay and Megan to get more individual support throughout the week.

Saturday Community Dinners: Every 2nd and 4th Saturday a month we provide a meal to 200+ members of the community, including the homeless, marginally housed and many low income seniors.  Different congregations, students or group provide the food and volunteer each dinner and eat with guests.  On special occasions we also hand out clothing, socks, help people send cards to family members and hand out blankets. How to host a community dinner.

For more information on how to volunteer, please contact: megan@welcomeministry.org