Posted by Chris Janson on Nov 03, 2017
A challenge in feeding the homeless opens the door to a new partnership.
 
In February, a food poisoning incident at a Cleveland homeless shelter prompted a new policy for food preparation.  Moving forward, the shelter would only accept food donations prepared in health department certified kitchens.  This posed a challenge for Cleveland-based True Freedom Ministries, a group that has faithfully fed the homeless for 23 years.  Despite the fact that the food poisoning incident was not related to food TF volunteers had prepared or distributed, but came from an entirely different source, the ministry would need to find an approved kitchen for future food preparation.  The Rotary Club of Solon heard of their dilemma, from a connection between their Director of Development, David Wessel, and President-Elect Chris Janson, and offered to help the Ministries in building a new kitchen.
A challenge in feeding the homeless opens the door to a new partnership.
 
In February, a food poisoning incident at a Cleveland homeless shelter prompted a new policy for food preparation.  Moving forward, the shelter would only accept food donations prepared in health department certified kitchens.  This posed a challenge for Cleveland-based True Freedom Ministries, a group that has faithfully fed the homeless for 23 years.  Despite the fact that the food poisoning incident was not related to food TF volunteers had prepared or distributed, but came from an entirely different source, the ministry would need to find an approved kitchen for future food preparation.  The Rotary Club of Solon heard of their dilemma, from a connection between their Director of Development, David Wessel, and President-Elect Chris Janson, and offered to help the Ministries in building a new kitchen.
 
True Freedom Ministries is a faith-based organization providing crucial services to those in need: feeding the homeless; preparing current and recently-released prisoners to re-enter society; and supporting individuals facing life-threatening addictions.  Founded in 2012, True Freedom Ministries is dedicated to helping those in need find a new direction for their lives, and touched the lives of over 43,000 prison inmates, homeless, and recovering addicts in one year alone.
 
The Ministries had been operating from a facility on the East side of Cleveland and from local homeless shelters, and earlier this year, had been donated a former church building in Brooklyn, OH. It is in this building the True Freedom Ministries built their new certified kitchen, in part with a donation towards new kitchen appliances from the Rotary Club of Solon.
 
David Wessel estimated that the Ministries would need $15,000 in funding for the kitchen, and reached out to his network for donations. The Rotary Club of Solon saw this as a tremendous opportunity to give back to our community, and to support a group devoting their lives to saving others. A $2,000 donation from the club was used to purchase kitchen appliances. The kitchen was completed last month, and will start operations shortly. Our Rotary Club will be touring the facility and serving food prepared by the Ministries in their new kitchen.
 
David Wessel shared that True Freedom is “so grateful for the generosity of the Solon Rotary Club.  We anticipate the opportunity to love many broken, needy souls through the improvements made to our West-Side building.”  
 
Our next project with True Freedom Ministries involves outfitting three rooms in their building with Audio-Visual equipment that they will use in additional addiction recovery services, vocational training, and other education opportunities. Watch for an update in next month’s newsletter.
 
We are proud of the contributions we are able to make to this worthy organization, and look forward to many years of partnership. For more information on True Freedom Ministries, please visit their website: www.truefreedomministries.com.