St. Paul's Church Marketplace for All People BY KAREN GERHARDINGER COVID-19 has put a damper on everyone’s life in some way, but for those who live on the streets of Toledo, it spelled a lack of access to regular meals - until area churches jumped in to fill that void. Sitting under a pop-up tent outside St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at 1201 Madison St. in Toledo, volunteer coordinator Keiyonda King is bundled against the cold as she and a team of volunteers hand out bags filled with food – two sandwiches, granola bars, chips, a sweet and two waters. Until mid-March, Keiyonda managed volunteers at Marketplace For All People, a St. Paul’s UMC program that provides clothing, blankets, household goods and programming for the homeless and low income residents of downtown and the North End. While St. Paul’s also has a food pantry that’s open once a week, providing daily meals wasn’t part of the program - until early May. That’s when Rev. Mary Sullivan learned that Cherry Street Mission had to shut its doors to non-residents because of social distancing and COVID-19 concerns. That closure impacted hundreds of members of the homeless population, who relied on the nonprofit for breakfast and lunch. As a result of the closure, Sullivan was hearing about people who were not eating between dinner one day and dinner the next day. “We’ve got to feed these folks as a congregation and a nonprofit,” Sullivan said. She got on the phone to find out what other area organizations were doing to provide meals so that St. Paul’s could fill in the gaps. Food For Thought, Faith Matters, Toledo Street News, St. Paul’s Lutheran and Salem Lutheran all have programs, but breakfast and lunch seemed to be the biggest need. By June, a revamped Marketplace for All People was launched as a six-daya-week program to provide the brunch bags. Operated in partnership with St. Paul’s Community Center, the food program is supported by donations and volunteers from several United Methodist churches, including Braden, Epworth, Hope Toledo, Hope Whitehouse, Maumee, Perrysburg First, Oregon Faith, Riverpoint and Wayne, as well as St. Paul’s Lutheran downtown and St. Martin De Porres Catholic parish. “When we shut down Marketplace, it morphed into a feeding program,” said board member Sherry Walker said. An estimated 70 to 80 adults come by for meais on those days, Walker estimates. Among those is George, who lost his wallet and identification in February and is waiting for a copy of his social security card so that he can start apartment hunting. Without an ID, he wasn’t allowed to get in anywhere to eat, he said. “This helps feed the people who are sleeping on the streets and don’t have a meal. Sometimes it might be the only Page 6 meal they get in a day,” George said. Michael, a volunteer serving up hot coffee, now lives in an apartment, but he remembers how difficult it was during his two years of living on Adams Street. When camping outside, especially during cold months, people need to find a place to get a warm meal and hot cup of coffee in the morning, he explained. So when he heard from fellow volunteer Al that Marketplace was reopening, he hopped on the bus from his South End home to join in volunteering. “I used to be homeless. Now I’ve got my own place, by the grace of God,” he said. “I want to give back to the less fortunate. When they closed down the shelter, there was no place for them to go.” While area agencies have funding to open emergency shelter, it may be January before anything materializes, Sullivan said. So the church and St. Paul’s Community Center next door are working together to create warm dinners that can be picked up every day except Saturday. The day before Thanksgiving, the group gave out boxed meals to the homeless. In the meantime, Sullivan is also looking at options for those who don’t have a warm place to sleep – such as sleeping bags that can be worn as a jacket, or pup tents that can be set up in the parking lot. Marketplace recently reopened on a scaled back version, by appointment only. Keiyonda is happy to take clients through the shop and the food pantry. “This place helped my family,” Keiyonda said, motioning around the church. “I have anxiety through the roof. But every time I came here I felt secure.” Keiyonda accessed multiple resources in order to feed and clothe her family, but she found St. Paul’s UMC and Sullivan’s Friday sermons to be calming. Now she’s planted, Keiyonda said. “Marketplace is built on the assumption that everyone has gifts,” Sullivan said. “We help them discover the strengths that God blessed them with.” Both are looking forward to the day when COVID-19 no long limits the services that area shelters can offer the homeless. When that happens, Marketplace will get back to offering some of the other programming that was just getting underway earlier this year, including craft classes that utilize items in the shop to create repurposed gifts. Or the cooking class that showed how to feed a family of four for just $4.00 a day. Or the sewing class to provide the skills to upcycle items. In her 13 years with the church, Sullivan said she has learned just how vulnerable the homeless can be. Some are homeless because they want the lifestyle. Others suffer from mental health or addiction issues. One segment of the population may find a sofa to sleep on at night but spend days on the streets. “These are ones our society sees as disposable,” Sullivan said. “We may be feeding and clothing them, but we are also trying to have a relationship with them. That’s the bigger thing.” • St. Paul’s Community Center, which was founded in the basement of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in 1975, is a separate, non-profit entity that provides food, shelter, support services, and job and housing referrals to the homeless, indigent and mentally ill. Normally the center houses 30 residents and opens up its cafeteria area in the winter for overnight stays, said CEO Joe Habib. Because of COVID-19, Habib and other shelter operators have been scrambling to make plans for emergency shelter for non-residents - while at the same time providing six feet of separation. On November 23, the center launched a new Winter Crisis initiative that will make another 45 beds available. Thanks to some funding, the 30 to 35 residents of St. Paul’s Community Center will be moved to a Toledo hotel, where they will receive case management services as they make their next step toward permanent housing. The 30 beds normally used by residents will be opened up for overnight stays and the cafeteria will be set up to allow in 15 to 20 individuals who aren’t already receiving help. “This will open up the shelter for additional individuals to come and get out of the cold and spend the night,” Habib said. And, it also provides an opportunity for interaction between case managers and individuals who might be ready to begin the process toward permanent housing.
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