Panhandling brings a lot of discussion. During the summer the number of panhandlers seems to increase dramatically. What defines a panhandler? Most dictionaries define a panhandler as an “urban beggar”, someone that begs from the street. Most people would agree on a definition, but not on other factors about panhandlers. There are misconceptions about panhandlers,
The Open Door Mission Kitchen is pretty busy…every day. We serve over 3,000 meals daily to our guests and the hungry in the community. Gary runs the kitchen and since he cooks in batches the food warmer is essential. Those we need to call on in the community are pretty quick to respond; and that
At Open Door Mission we rely on the generosity of others. This is especially true at the Timberlake Outreach Center. The Outreach Centers, we have 3, meet the needs of our guests, as well as those in the community. We serve those living poverty and the working poor. We provide a “shop for yourself” pantry,
Did you know that Open Door Mission has a garden? We have a very large garden (14,000 square feet) that helps provides fresh vegetables to the kitchen. When the plants are first put into the ground they are very sensitive to weather changes, too much rain or not enough rain or is it too hot or
Why is Lydia House is named Lydia House? Just who was this Lydia of the Bible? When I first came to Open Door Mission I decided to learn more about Lydia and possibly why a building was named for her. Lydia is one of the few woman mentioned in the Bible, that in itself makes
Open Door Mission has large garden and greenhouse on our campus to provide fresh fruit and vegetables for the 3,000+ meals we serve daily. This year’s crazy weather, flooding and wildly fluctuating temperatures made us wonder if we could get a garden in. Taylor shares in his own words how Open Door Mission was able
Today is “Hug Your Kid” day, a great time to get in some extra hugs. The best thing about hugging your child is you get a hug too. In a recent Parenting Class we discussed the importance of parent-child bonding, especially hugging. All of us were surprised how much good just a 20 second hug
Do the summer blues have you and the kids down? Now is the time to do something for somebody else. Studies have proven that volunteering (hint, hint) and doing for others is just plain good for you. When you do face-to-face activities, such as volunteering at Open Door Mission, they can help reduce loneliness and
We are blessed to have a great maintenance department on the Open Door Mission campus. Everything from burned out light bulbs to leaky faucets, it is a big job to keep the campus safe and working efficiently. The maintenance staff oversees all the yard duties, like mowing, as well. We are blessed to have hard working men,
Open Door Mission cannot do all it does without “our Village” of caring people. Some of these people are our “every day what can I do to help” volunteers. We also have professionals that come and volunteer their skills and expertise. We are blessed with nursing students from all the area colleges. The nursing students
