New Meal Program in East Cleveland

Divine Outreach to Serve Once Per Month

After the article appeared in the Plain Dealer regarding the lack of food providers within the city limits of East Cleveland, a number of church groups stepped forward to offer volunteers and food to help out. Divine Outreach Ministry would like everyone to know that they will be serving a meal on the fourth Friday of the Month at Windermere Living Hope Church. The meal will be from 4 to 6 pm. at 14035 Euclid Ave. in the beautiful Windermere Living Hope Church. This will add a fourth night of food being served out of this historic church. The first meal for Divine Outreach Ministry in East Cleveland is Friday June 25.

Divine Outreach currently does the meal behind the Mental Health Services Building at East 18th and Payne Ave. in Downtown Cleveland on the Second Saturday of the month. They have a long history of working with homeless people as the lead organization providing food at the Homeless Stand Down. If you have questions or want to help volunteer or provide additional donations, you can call Dorothy at 216/355-6953.

Brian
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East Cleveland Food

Volunteers (above) flood the near west side hot meal program at St. Augustine for a Christmas dinner in 2007.

Plain Dealer Covers Food Desert in East Cleveland

Yesterday, the Plain Dealer's Mike O'Malley did a nice look at the food issues in East Cleveland. We have been working on this issue for the last three years even before the loss of First Presbyterian Church. We were concerned with the steady rise in the number of people that use the food truck operated by the Salvation Army. It was a nice touch to talk about the driver of that truck who happens to be living in the shelter every night. This is one of the many under-reported stories in Cleveland. The number of homeless women and men who volunteer in the community is substantial. I know that the guys at Y-Haven do a ton of work serving as poll workers. I know that there are hundreds of guys at Lakeside who patrol/clean up the neighborhood to keep the "home" looking nice. My experience is that nearly every shelter in the community has been a positive for the neighborhood that they reside. It is unfortunate that there is such a negative stereotype with regard to shelters.

I know that the Hunger Network has realized that there was an issue in East Cleveland, and they have convened a meeting for next week to talk about these issues. We do have a pdf of a Street Card just for East Cleveland on our website. We are working on updating this card at this time, and will have it out by May of this year. It is hoped that with a new administration in East Cleveland, we can finally make some progress out there. For most of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, the homeless policy in East Cleveland was a rapid ride to Downtown Cleveland. I am sure that with the spotlight from the Plain Dealer so that now the best and brightest minds in our community are aware of these problems, we can solve this issue.

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.