It was about four years ago, when a group of three women came together to serve a meal once a week at the Gathering Tree, a downtown drop-in center that closed in 2014. They then created a page on Facebook to plan out future meals.
Word-of-mouth quickly spread about the page, and that little group now has over 2,500 members.
According to Jennifer Cannon, one of the founding members of Gathering Friends, they want to treat the homeless as neighbors. She said they’re there to provide the homeless with things that they need.
The group serves several meals a week at the Veterans Coming Home Center. They provide the homeless with gloves and hats for the winter months as well as shoes, sunscreen and bug spray in the summer.
“Gathering Friends is really there to be friends to our disenfranchised neighbors, to provide them things that they need. Sometimes that’s a hug, sometimes that is having somebody to listen to them, sometimes that’s a ride to get to resources or a bus pass to get to resources.”
Cannon explains they created this page with the mission of trying to smooth out the journey for the homeless.
“Our mission is really to treat our neighbors as friends and help them in their journey.”
Over the last year, Gathering Friends helped around 300 people, and they see around 100 new people every year.
For more information on getting involved, visit the Gathering Friends Facebook page.