Donna Gibson sat at her desk, cast in fluorescent light inside the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on West Main Street in Newark, Ohio.
Guests at the church’s Community Drop-In center went about their business, chatting or quietly eating cereal for breakfast while Gibson talked with one of her regular guests: A tall, middle-aged man with a long, white beard and a Cincinnati Reds hat.
“Before I came here, I pretty much hated myself,” said Don Bryant, a 56-year-old guest of Holy Trinity Lutheran’s Community Drop-In center. “There were moments where I was like, ‘Damn. Another day,’ and I no longer feel that way thanks to this place.”
“You’re getting my eyes puffy,” Gibson responded.
The drop-in center is a place for those in need to sit, recharge devices, recharge themselves, and get out of the cold and eat a warm meal. The center is available to anyone and supports guests who are unhoused, senior citizens, the working poor, victims of abuse and others who are looking for a place to be safe and warm.
And on Nov. 1, the drop-in decided to expand its hours of operation from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. That’s two more days a week and an additional two and a half hours a day for the center on Newark’s free Main Street bus line.
Read more: Advocates, unhoused community battle dual housing and addiction crises in Licking County
Those additional hours help fill the void left by the closure of Vertical 196, a day shelter in Newark that closed in 2023, which had provided food, shelter and showers for those who needed them. Showers are being provided on Fridays downtown at First United Methodist Church, 88 N. 5th Street.
With the additional hours, the drop-in at the Lutheran church is seeking more volunteers to give back to their community and provide for those in need.
The windows beside Gibson’s desk displayed a view into the nave, where congregations meet. Through the windows, stained glass cast a peaceful glow over the rows of wooden pews. Next to her, the room filled with chatter and the occasional laughs of guests who attended Tuesday’s drop-in. The lines of tables resembled any other cafeteria, but the food is far better.
“They’ve all been pretty happy with the food,” Gibson said. “I keep telling them I’m trying to find something that didn’t taste good, and I can’t find it yet.”
Gibson began working as the director of the drop-in center in May. Since then, the drop-in’s guest count has continued to increase, and the volunteers have been working harder than ever.
Gibson keeps track of the meals which the drop-in provides to the public. When she looked at the data, there was no question in her mind: The center needed to expand its hours. In June, the drop-in provided 65 meals to its guests. That number has steadily increased through October, when it provided 262 meals.
Currently, the drop-in has 15 volunteers. Since Gibson placed a note on social media asking for more volunteers, she has had two more people reach out to her.
“I would love to get another five or six, at least,” Gibson said.
A volunteer who joined in August, Heath resident LaVerne Phillips-Jones, has been working to feed the unhoused population of Licking County for the past 10 years. The drop-in is her latest venture of love and faith.
Gibson asked to meet with Phillips-Jones before she joined the team. They connected instantly.
“You know, we ended up spending three and a half hours at Bob Evans just drinking coffee,” Gibson said about the time she first met Phillips-Jones. “I just felt like this is my sister from another mister type thing. … Her heart was where I was at, and she wanted to feed people.”
They even wore the same color of purple that day. To them, it was a message from God. Now, Phillips-Jones works with passion in the kitchen of the drop-in. On Tuesday, she was making sub sandwiches and chili.
“I live by [scripture from the book of] Matthew,” Phillips-jones said. “‘When you were naked, I clothed you. When you were hungry, I fed you. When you were in prison, you came to visit me.’ I live that. That’s my life. I want everybody to feel loved and needed, because everybody has a purpose. So that’s my mission statement, if you will.”
Donations are fairly common for the drop-in. Volunteers and others bring in an array of food items. Sometimes these donations can change Phillips-Jones’ meal plan for the whole day.
“I always tell them the menu is subject to change because when I walk in, maybe God put something different on my heart because a volunteer brought something different,” she said. “Like today, my menu changed from what I thought, but I know it’s going to be good.”
The entire staff of the drop-in is dedicated to supporting their community. They do their best to make everyone’s life a little bit better, whether that is by providing a warm meal, solving a crisis in the heat of the moment or feeding a guest’s kitten. Gibson said that these acts of kindness bring happiness to her life and others.
“Life has got a lot of rough spots, and when you get to do something and you feel good about it … you see the outcomes,” Gibson said. “People are eating and they’re happy and they’re talking to me … That’s happiness. I believe in sharing happiness.”
The volunteers’ passion for helping those around them is not lost on the guests. In fact, it is even encouraging them to help out others in need.
“I’m totally dedicated to servitude. … I’m an old dog, so I’ve learned a whole lot over the way, maybe I can help others, and that’s because of this place,” Bryant said. “Winter’s coming. We got brothers and sisters out there that are hungry, cold. So any clothes, blankets, shoes, gloves, socks, you know, the basics, a hot meal and a kind word, maybe somebody to hold their hand while they tell their story. Yeah, that means a lot that you’re not alone, not alienated, the whole world isn’t against you.”
Positivity hangs in the air of the drop-in – even though many of the attendees there are down on their luck, they continue to radiate love. The staff’s compassion is infectious and it shows deeply in every sandwich, table, donation, bowl, plate and kind word. However, they always need more volunteers to join their cause.
“We need help,” Phillips-Jones said. “We can’t do it alone. And if people are on the fence about it, just come down one day. Just come down one day. Give us two hours. Give us 10 minutes. You know, because we need you. We’re better together.”
Those interested in volunteering can find more information on Holy Trinity Lutheran Church’s website.
Andrew Theophilus writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.