Many people in the community reside in their own homes or apartments but live just one or two paychecks from homelessness. It is Water Street Mission’s desire to help meet basic needs while building relationships that may allow us to provide help in deeper ways.
Grocery Assistance
Outreach Ministries offers two, weekly food distributions and two weekly bread/pastry distributions for people living in the community. Food varies based on what has been donated but may consist of fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, pastries, or canned foods. To learn more about receiving food, click here.
Holiday Food Boxes
In partnership with local churches, Water Street Mission distributes over 2,000 Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas food boxes each year. Recipients pre-register for these food boxes and receive different amounts of food based on the number of individuals living in their household. Local churches are a crucial link in the holiday food distributions, as they have the capacity to build individual relationships with those receiving food.
Clothing and Furniture Assistance
Outreach Ministries developed the Clothing and Furniture Assistance program after the closing of the Lancaster Thrift Store in December 2005. This change allowed Water Street Mission to deepen the effectiveness of our service to the homeless by expanding ministries like the Learning and Career Center and Water Street Health Services while still providing items to people in need.
Through volunteer support and management, Outreach Ministries provides clothing and furniture at no cost to community members who are referred by a church or social service agency. The goal is to meet basic needs while developing relationships that may lead to further opportunities.
Often clients come to Water Street Mission with nothing more than the clothing they are wearing. It is at these times that Outreach Ministries provides clothing assistance. When a client successfully moves into his/her own apartment, a client may request furniture assistance from Outreach Ministries to help furnish their new home.
Donations
Grocery Assistance:
To learn about the top giving opportunities for food items,
click here. Clothing/Furniture Assistance:
Gently used clothing and furniture donations are gratefully accepted at the
Collection Center.
Partnerships
If your church or social service agency is interested in partnering with Water Street Mission as a referring agency or as a host church for Holiday Food Distributions, please contact Conrad Moore at (717) 393-7709 ext. 306 or email contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
To learn more about our programs, click on the links at the left.