Parizod Sharafutdinova hands a plate of pasta to Jocelyn Toledo to serve to a guest; no one has to wait in line at the Salvation Army community meal site.
Every day in Newport, almost two dozen religious and community organizations work hard to serve the hungry, the lonely, and anyone who shows up to one of many local meal sites. The food offerings range from the Salvation Army’s Friday night selection of hot dogs, salad, and pasta to a meal at Community Baptist that Deacon Willa Johnson describes as four-star. Miss Johnson, whose church conducted its first open meal service in 1984, credited the Order of the Eastern Star, Queen Esther Chapter, for a special holiday meal attended by over 100 guests. She also commended members of the Marines who lent volunteer assistance for the occasion. When asked why they do this, she said, “We are a caring congregation.”
At Channing Church last Monday night, a guest said, “You can expect turkey dinners at most places through Christmas!” A volunteer there said that she is involved because she was once homeless herself and knows what it’s like. On this night, there was enough food for seconds and plenty of fresh pie which was supplied by the volunteers themselves. The holiday season tends to bring in more of the donations that organizations depend upon to feed the 40 to 100 people who sit down to eat at these community meals. But an oft-cited frustration is the lack of funding for a healthy variety of foods, as well as the ever-present knowledge that difficulties for the guests continue after the meal.
Dr. Irene Glasser, of Newport, has written several books regarding the issues surrounding homelessness. (Photos by Theresa Hillman)
Dr. Irene Glasser of Newport volunteers at local meal sites and credits her Jewish heritage with inspiring her to work for social justice. It’s not about charity, she says. The social justice concept called “tzedakah” encourages helping people through systematic changes. In the early 1980s, when she wrote “More Than Bread: Ethnography of a Soup Kitchen” (republished in 2010), she based her work on a full service soup kitchen. “I have met some wonderful dedicated people who work here in Newport, and they do their best to serve the people who see them.” However, she notes that so much more could be done if service groups collaborated more on the overall nutritional and resource needs of guests. She asserted that training programs such as those provided by the Newport Skills Alliance, as well as program eligibility information and direct referrals to professional services, are needed in an ongoing way. “A lot of people are falling through the cracks, because if you’re not known to agencies they are not involved with you. We have a very free and open society in the United States, so there’s no one involved with the person unless they come forward. A person may think that no help is available or may be discouraged. Mental illness may get in the way of a desire to get help.”
At the MLK Community Center, where breakfast is provided five days a week, guests are treated with care and gentleness. Although visitors give demographic information for the organization’s funding records, their privacy is protected. Dr. Glasser explains, “I agree with the moral principal that you don’t want to do anything that would deter people from eating. So, you don’t want to take names and you don’t want to take notes and you don’t want to take photos. You don’t want to do anything that would turn people off from coming in the door.” A certain ambiance is therefore maintained in a soup kitchen so that more people will have access to food. According to Glasser, “Some people who eat in soup kitchens live in their own place and just come to economize and to meet other people. By the time people are eating in soup kitchens, most are discouraged. Some are desperate and have almost mentally given up on getting a job or finding their own apartment.”
Her words echo the guidance offered to staff members from a brochure of the soup kitchen she originally studied: “offer a trustful community resource for the poor, providing safe harbor, social contact information and referral and moral support to an easily defeated clientele.”
Hygiene products and granola bars are also freely given out at the MLK Center. At the Salvation Army, new knitted hats are offered, while turkey dinners and canned goods are being collected to share for the holiday. Massive numbers of volunteers work to get food to anyone who needs it, including to those who cannot travel. Chronic unemployment, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, and the collapse of social safety nets may contribute to the problems of hunger and alienation, but here in Newport a generous spirit helps to create a sense of community for many individuals seeking food or solace.
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