There is a "soup kitchen" which operates at the University United Methodist Church (UUMC) every Saturday morning under the guidance of a ministry call Open Door. And, when I say every Saturday, I mean every Saturday. Their diligence and their pure devotion to their cause is incredibly inspiring. As the result of their great efforts, on average, 200 people know that they have a guaranteed hot breakfast every Saturday morning.
At the moment, the church is in the act of eliminating the asbestos from their facilities. This includes this unfortunately includes the kitchen. Despite having a more than legitimate excuse to take a long overdue break ( the people who direct and lead are there every possible Saturday; day after day and year after year.) and shut the services down, the leaders created a solution which would allow them to continue feeding the homeless and severely underserved of Austin who have relied on them for many years. A plan was devised in which the recipients, or guests, would instead be offered a sack lunch containing a variety of food stuffs to be delivered outside in the front parking lot of the church.
I have been privileged to bear witness to some of the planning and decision making that went into their creating a solution to the problem of changing their entire operation which is always contingent upon donations, most of which need to be prepared with a stove. I have been amazed (but not surprised) by the selfless and tireless dedication and hard work which every member of the serving community at UUMC has given in the effort to continue their work. Open Door is operated 100% by volunteers. The first class organization of their agency has allowed them to remain a critically sustaining part of many people's lives.
It is a great opportunity for me to be able to see the process to create solutions to serious problems at an organization such as Open Door and make connections to the information presented in Social Work in Communities and Organizations.
Observation: I can't even imagine what it must have been like for those people living on the street to experience that incredible storm on Wednesday night. It is so very heartbreaking.
Blair, reading this great blog post that you wrote makes me think of something. How do the recipients of a volunteer ran service such as the one the University United Method Church provides to help feed a population of homeless people feel when something that they have actively partaking in for possibly years is forced to shutdown or experience dramatic changes in the services provided. I'm sure there are social connections being made and more than just the need of food being fufilled when people visit the UUMC on Saturday mornings.
ReplyDeleteAlso where does the church do its work on Saturday?
Dear Alex, Thank you for this thoughtful comment! To answer your first question, I believe the recipients would be pretty darn disappointed if the UUMC found itself unable to provide for them. They might even be upset if they were not informed ahead of time, since many of them travel a long way to get there. But, during normal operations they usually receive clothes as well, and I have experienced some guests finding the clothing stores closed to be very frustrating. I don't think I mentioned above that the guests usually receive clothes as well as food, but the stores have been closed because of the renovations. You are right about the social connections. Besides food and clothes, we also offer information concerning where they might be able to find other resources such as shelters or even housing, for example.
ReplyDeleteThe church usually operates in the main fellowship hall located off of Guad and 24th, but because of the renovations, they have been forced into the parking lot.
Thank you for your great questions, my friend!