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August
7, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 14Oakland,
CA
GRIP’s
Souper Center reopens in Richmond
to feed, house the hungry and homeless
The recent
reopening of the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program’s Souper Center
brings a comprehensive facility serving homeless people in West Contra
Costa County.
GRIP first began serving meals to the poor over 20 years ago from the
back of a truck. This small operation soon grew to incorporate local member
congregations of the area who would help serve meals at the West County
Resource Center, offering the homeless population a reliable meal once
a day for a number of years. In addition, the center also offered occasional
shelter space when available.
“They would just spend the night and then leave the next morning,”
said Art Hatchett, GRIP executive director. Eventually, something more
permanent was needed to better serve the homeless community.
In 2001, GRIP began making plans to improve their existing facilities
by remodeling the kitchen. The project grew to include a center that would
help the teenagers, children, and babies of homeless families. The plans
continued to expand until they developed into the structure that now stands
at 165 22nd St. in Richmond.
Staffed by employees and volunteers, the Souper Center will carry on the
GRIP tradition of serving meals at noon. But it will also offer vocational
training for its clients and provide housing for families in both emergency
and transitional capacities. Of the 18 rooms that are available, seven
are set aside for emergency purposes and 11 are reserved for residents
in transition.
Building a facility that offers as much as the Souper Center does called
for large financial support. “There was massive fundraising,”
said Hatchett. “Government sources from the state, county, and city,
support from congregations, and other friends of GRIP” all contributed
to the development of the facility.
The Catholic parishes participating in GRIP are the Kmhmú Catholic
Community, Berkeley/Richmond; Our Lady of Mercy, St. Cornelius, St. David
and St. Mark, Richmond; and St. John the Baptist and St. Jerome, El Cerrito.
Several of these congregations have a long history of providing financial
and
volunteer support to the organization. In fact, it was some of these that
kept the Center open when its primary financial support, Volunteers of
America, withdrew from the project in 1992.
