Photo by Elizabeth Hayes.
Once a month, the youth group from Canterbury United Methodist Church volunteers and serves food at the Firehouse Ministries.
On the first Tuesday of the month, Gann Waters-Wright has gone with Canterbury United Methodist Church to Firehouse Ministries to serve meals for men experiencing homelessness. First, he went as a youth member, and now he goes as a staff representative for the church.
“We would talk so much about what it meant to live a certain way or do a certain thing or to care about people [who] are maybe of a different circumstance, and it was actually one of the things where we were able to put that into practice,” said Waters-Wright, the church’s high school coordinator.
Many people just like him, he said, continue their reach with the shelter as they continue their lives as adults. Don Lupo, a former Mountain Brook resident and president of the Firehouse Ministries board, said many of the services and volunteers come from the Mountain Brook area.
On 6 p.m. of the first Tuesday of every month, Waters-Wright and the church group of seventh- through 12th-grade student volunteers bring all the food and supplies to prepare a Thanksgiving-style meal at the shelter. They spend the next two hours preparing and serving the food.
“We depend on their support. We depend on churches like that not only for monetary support, but also for that volunteer support and for the spiritual support,” Lupo said. “They walk every step with us.”
Since the Capital Campaign was launched in 2015 to fund a larger shelter, Canterbury United Methodist Church has played a vital role as one of the highest donors in the city that has aided the shelter in its progress of providing volunteers and funds through their bridge program, Lupo added.
“[Supporting the Firehouse Ministries] means a lot to this congregation,” Director of Student Ministries Seth Moon said. He said the program helps “connect the dots” with their youth group that these are people the community needs to care about.
In December, Firehouse Ministries celebrated 35 years of service to the homeless community and broke ground at its new location at 626 Second Ave. N., which is expected to take 10 months to build. The new building will accommodate 112 people, instead of the current 50-bed space on Third Avenue North.
Elizabeth Hayes, the church’s logistics coordinator, said several groups of individuals, Bible studies and youth groups in Canterbury United Methodist Church serve as volunteers throughout the month. Hayes, who is also in charge of supervising the 20 or so youth who go each month, said they have a dedicated group who love coming and are excited for the new shelter.
Lupo said programs like the Tuesday meal service are going to continue at the new building, and Firehouse Ministries is looking to intensify the services it offers and heighten its relationships with churches, volunteers and other organizations in the Mountain Brook area.
“Everybody always thinks if you go volunteer at the shelter, you are blessing those … Yes, you are, you are blessing them, but nine out of 10 times, you are the one that receives the blessing,” Lupo said.
Lupo said what the Firehouse Ministries board is most proud of is that 93 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to the services spent for assisting the men in need. To donate time or learn more about volunteering, go to firehouseshelter.com.
