In The Garden is a member of the national Ecclesia Ministries and offers a variety of programs and resources to the homeless and minimally-housed community of Columbus, OH. NOT AN ORDINARY ‘FEEDING PROGRAM’
In The Garden (ITG), a weekly worship & dining program, began about five years ago in the Undercroft of Trinity Episcopal Church On Capitol Square in Columbus. Beginning with 6 people and sack
lunches of a sandwich and fruit, ITG now serves between 100 and 150 persons weekly, providing a worship service, nutritious and attractive hot meal, and community building. For 52 Sunday afternoons a year, a diverse group of persons from the homeless, minimally-housed, ex-offenders, and underprivileged citizens residing in or near the downtown Columbus area are hosted. Some are dealing with addiction, abuse, or mental and physical illnesses; most are unemployed or under-employed, and are on disability and/or Section 8 funding. Many in the ITG community have become “regulars” and participate in organizing, serving, and cleaning up each Sunday. Many participate in the worship, providing music or poetry, witnessing, or reading Scripture. They are developing a sense of relationship, responsibility, and pride in what ITG does and stands for, and are eager to see the program expand. They have come to consider ITG a pleasant, safe, and gracious place of welcome; they appreciate being treated with respect and friendship, and of course, they enjoy the meals, which are served by ITG volunteers at their tables rather than cafeteria-style. The ITG program has expanded in numbers and services a great deal this past year, and ITG attendees now seek our advice and help (or that of our resource people) for medical and legal advice, personal needs, employment assistance, and always, prayers and thoughts for their loss and struggles, and those of their friends. Their continual (but patient) requests for expanded services (because of our central location and congenial treatment of them) gives further testimony to the growing importance of ITG to the large community it serves. ITG opens each Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm and serves hot coffee and snacks (this is the first food some of our community have had this day). A short worship service begins at 2 pm, followed by the meal and fellowship. Serving stops at 3 pm and everyone is gone by 4 pm after assisting with clean-up. ITG tries to keep on-hand a supply of personal toiletries (soap, deodorant, shampoo, etc.), clothing (sox, gloves, underwear, washcloths, etc.) and camping needs (candles, rope, tarps, blankets, water-proof containers, etc.) From time to time large donations of clothing and food supplies are distributed. Programs on free training and work opportunities, on voter registration, and opportunities available at nearby churches and organizations during the next week are a part of the weekly service. This year a retired lawyer formerly with the public defender’s office comes monthly to answer questions and give guidance about state and federal agencies, legal concerns and/or problems with agencies or their parole. ITG has coordinated with Columbus State University and their federal-funded Logistic Arts program and have had three graduates of the program. Currently have two of the community are enrolled in IMPACT, a training program for the unemployed on how to get and keep a job. Several of the community who were living on the street are now in Section 8 housing and donations have provided assistance in furnishing their homes. ITG facilities provide restrooms for clean-up. ITG hopes to expand the program to run a ‘coffee house’ for the holidays when libraries and other downtown public venues are closed, if the additional volunteer personnel can be found. In The Garden is a part of Ecclesia Ministries, a network of street ministries throughout the nation. During Nov. 3-4, 2012, Ecclesia will be having its national conference in Columbus where participants will visit ITG for our Sunday worship and meal. ITG is made possible by the food and volunteer contributions of two groups within Trinity Episcopal Church (the Vestry and the Endowment Committee), by three additional churches in the Columbus Deanery (Saint Philip, All Saints, Saint John’s Worthington) and one church from another denomination, by three civic groups (The Key Club of Grove City High School; Chicks 4 Christ, a group of women who work in the state prison system; and the Linda Jones Piano and Voice Studio). This year the ITG community has been blessed by participation of the OSU Student Muslim Association who provides sack lunches each Sunday for the ITG community to take home, and by a group of students from the OSU Honors program who serve on alternate Sundays. Several families have requested to provide holiday meals (Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter) for our group as family service projects. All of this is because of the spreading awareness of ITG and the importance of its work in the ecumenical community. SO in every way, In the Garden is not your usual feeding program for the homeless. We embrace and enact the Biblical imperative:
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40)
Persons or organizations interested in participating should contact Deacon deniray mueller (deniray@deniray.com) or Karen Peeler (karenpeeler42@gmail.com). You are cordially invited to visit In The Garden any Sunday at Trinity Episcopal Church on Capitol Square, 125 East Broad Street, Columbus.
