“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 (NIV)
By Robert O’Connor
Along a stretch of South Canal Street, empty glass bottles of liquor, coffee cups and other trash are strewn. In corners of abandoned doorways of the boarded up factories that line the street some men are grouped together on a cold winter’s day.
A short distance away sits Pacific Garden Mission, a shelter with a mission for the last 100 years to encourage the timid, help the weak and show patience to everyone who enters its doors. And it still has its iconic neon cross.
Pacific Garden Mission opened in 1877, at 316 S. Clark St., and is the oldest continuously operating rescue mission in the United States. It moved to its current location in November 2007 from its longtime location at 606 S. State St.—a spot it moved into with the help of baseball player Billy Sunday) and which it occupied for 84 years. The iconic neon cross that adorned its front door, with the phrase “Jesus Saves” on the front, moved with it and still sits above the Mission’s front door.
In addition to providing a host of services and also shelter for 950 men, women and children, Pacific Garden Mission serves 2,250 meals per day, every day. Some of the food is donated by overstocked markets or restaurants, or by places like the Greater Chicago Food Depository, but most of the food is bought. Laura Stemberg, assistant to Pacific Garden Mission’s President Dave McCarrell said that it cost $2,000 to $3,000 a week to buy the food they need to feed the homeless.
Soup is a common feature in lunch.
“They need a well-balanced healthy meal,” said Stemberg, “and we provide one for them.”
Sometimes food donations are notable enough to save money. Pacific Garden recently was given 10 barrels that could be used to make 80 gallons of soup. Stemberg estimates that this would save $150 a week.
The menu changes frequently, and has included items like Mexican food and Chicago-style hot dogs.
Executive Chef Floyd Turnball is in charge of feeding those who come to Pacific Garden. Turnball was born on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, and speaks with a light Caribbean inflection in his voice.
He moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands when he was four and was taught how to cook by his mother. When he was 13 he helped his aunt who owned a restaurant. But Turnball developed a drug problem and served time in jail.
“I needed help,” he said. “My friend worked in social services and she had heard of Pacific Garden Mission, and she mentioned it to me.”
He arrived in Chicago on March 4, 1993 and hasn’t left.
Two years ago, the mission moved from its original location after the city filed an eminent domain suit against it. The mission, its neighbor Jones College Prep High School and the City of Chicago had been in negotiations to expand the facilities of the high school after it switched from a two-year vocational school to a four-year selected enrollment school in 1999.
“They had no pool, no science labs and no gym,” said Laura Stemberg, assistant to Pacific Garden Mission’s President Dave McCarrell. “They needed a place for them.”
The city agreed to help Pacific Garden Mission move into its new location at 1458 S. Canal Street, with 150,000 square feet, which was designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, according to Stemberg.
The mission moved, and with it the hundreds of people it served. Turnball said he likes the new place because everyone is able to sit down.
“Before, the people in the program went first, and then had to leave and make room for the people from outside. Now, everyone can sit down, no problem.”
By Robert O’Connor
Along a stretch of South Canal Street, empty glass bottles of liquor, coffee cups and other trash are strewn. In corners of abandoned doorways of the boarded up factories that line the street some men are grouped together on a cold winter’s day.A short distance away sits Pacific Garden Mission, a shelter with a mission for the last 100 years to encourage the timid, help the weak and show patience to everyone who enters its doors. And it still has its iconic neon cross.
Pacific Garden Mission opened in 1877, at 316 S. Clark St., and is the oldest continuously operating rescue mission in the United States. It moved to its current location in November 2007 from its longtime location at 606 S. State St.—a spot it moved into with the help of baseball player Billy Sunday) and which it occupied for 84 years. The iconic neon cross that adorned its front door, with the phrase “Jesus Saves” on the front, moved with it and still sits above the Mission’s front door.
In addition to providing a host of services and also shelter for 950 men, women and children, Pacific Garden Mission serves 2,250 meals per day, every day. Some of the food is donated by overstocked markets or restaurants, or by places like the Greater Chicago Food Depository, but most of the food is bought. Laura Stemberg, assistant to Pacific Garden Mission’s President Dave McCarrell said that it cost $2,000 to $3,000 a week to buy the food they need to feed the homeless.
Soup is a common feature in lunch.
“They need a well-balanced healthy meal,” said Stemberg, “and we provide one for them.”
Sometimes food donations are notable enough to save money. Pacific Garden recently was given 10 barrels that could be used to make 80 gallons of soup. Stemberg estimates that this would save $150 a week.
The menu changes frequently, and has included items like Mexican food and Chicago-style hot dogs.
Executive Chef Floyd Turnball is in charge of feeding those who come to Pacific Garden. Turnball was born on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, and speaks with a light Caribbean inflection in his voice.
He moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands when he was four and was taught how to cook by his mother. When he was 13 he helped his aunt who owned a restaurant. But Turnball developed a drug problem and served time in jail.
“I needed help,” he said. “My friend worked in social services and she had heard of Pacific Garden Mission, and she mentioned it to me.”
He arrived in Chicago on March 4, 1993 and hasn’t left.
Two years ago, the mission moved from its original location after the city filed an eminent domain suit against it. The mission, its neighbor Jones College Prep High School and the City of Chicago had been in negotiations to expand the facilities of the high school after it switched from a two-year vocational school to a four-year selected enrollment school in 1999.
“They had no pool, no science labs and no gym,” said Laura Stemberg, assistant to Pacific Garden Mission’s President Dave McCarrell. “They needed a place for them.”
The city agreed to help Pacific Garden Mission move into its new location at 1458 S. Canal Street, with 150,000 square feet, which was designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman, according to Stemberg.
The mission moved, and with it the hundreds of people it served. Turnball said he likes the new place because everyone is able to sit down.
“Before, the people in the program went first, and then had to leave and make room for the people from outside. Now, everyone can sit down, no problem.”
No comments:
Post a Comment