Community Kitchen offers help to needy

As a college student, it is easy for me to take laundry, bathroom and shower facilities for granted. After learning about the Chattanooga Community Kitchen as part of a class requirement, I am encouraged to know there is help available for people who cannot take these things for granted.

Last Friday I took the free dinner served every afternoon at 3:45 as an opportunity to get to know some of the clientele.

Henry, a middle-aged man feeling the effects of a poor economy, talked with me about his attempts to find jobs in several cities, including Pensacola, Fla., where he grew up and spent time recently visiting friends.

"It's sad," he said about the lull in available jobs. His was a humbling, real-world account to hear for someone who will be jobless after December graduation.

Henry and I were enjoying the Community Kitchen's food service, which provides more than 130,000 meals a year "for anyone that is hungry," according to the organization's brochure.

After eating, I walked over to the Day Center which exists as a reference point for many people in Chattanooga who do not have a mailing address due to foreclosure or a host of other reasons.

The young woman behind the front was wearing a UTC hoodie, so I introduced myself. Saisha, who earned her Bachelor's from UTC last December as a Sociology major, landed a job at the Community Kitchen as a case manager soon after graduation.

She told me she worked with people who are homeless for all sorts of reasons-sometimes just plain bad luck.

"I never thought I would be working here," she said. "But I love my job."

When Saisha holds the mail for the Day Center clients, as she was when I talked to her, she is in one of the most positive environments of the Community Kitchen.

The Day Center looks like a small cafeteria with offices and meeting rooms on two walls. One room promoted a reading program, and another room was dedicated to "meditation" for those of any faith to use after checking in at the front desk.

In the corner was a podium and table full of flowers. The staff told me a memorial service was to be held the following day in memory of a long-time member of the Community Kitchen family.

A Gregorian monk bases his ministry in an office just across the common area from Saisha. Brother Ron, who has spent much of his seven years at the Community Kitchen in direct contact with the homeless in their own environment, is responsible for beginning the foot care facility next to his office.

Several UTC nursing students have helped clients of the Community Kitchen in the past, who often have histories of walking miles a day without proper pediatric treatment.

The Community Kitchen also serves a wide clientele through Consider the Lilies Thrift Store, open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The Thrift Store's frequent give-away opportunities have been life-giving for families with growing children, or families who have lost resources due to flooding or other unavoidable life situations.

As a Chattanooga non-profit organization, The Chattanooga Community Kitchen will continue to thrive with new resources for the homeless of the greater Chattanooga area.

The Community Kitchen's close proximity to UTC's campus has been an advantage to their efforts. However, its existence is a benefit to the UTC student body as well.

As the weather gets colder, it is as difficult as ever to know how to help those whom you are guaranteed to meet downtown with nowhere to go.

If nothing else, make sure they know about the Chattanooga Community Kitchen on 11th Street, where they can eat a hot bowl of soup and rest their weary feet.