St. Vincent de Paul food mission seeks permit to shelter homeless, too
People line up for a free warm meal outside of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at the Ozanam Center Nov. 6, 2020. Currently the organization operates on a restricted special use permit, allowing soup kitchen use only in the mornings, but the organization is asking to change the permit to allow a 7-day-a-week shelter for the homeless. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Volunteer Gretchen Hollingsworth hands out warm meals to the needy from inside the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at the Ozanam Center Nov. 6, 2020. Pre-pandemic, the organization used to bring people inside and offer them ministry and entertainment with their food, but due to COVID-19 they are handing meals out through a slot in a plexiglass door. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Volunteer Gretchen Hollingsworth hands out a warm meal, a donated FedEx “pilot pack” and a bag of chips outside of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at the Ozanam Center Nov. 6, 2020. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Kitchen manager Eliot Wrenn prepares warm meals for the homeless inside the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at the Ozanam Center Nov. 6, 2020. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
A "Thank You Come Again" sign hangs in a kitchen window of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at the Ozanam Center Nov. 6, 2020. Currently the organization operates a soup kitchen on a restricted special use permit, but it hopes to expand the permit to include a 7-day-a-week shelter for the homeless. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Volunteers and a small staff have been serving morning meals for eight years at the Ozanam Center, 1306 Monroe Ave. Now the Catholic lay organization plans to work with Room In The Inn to shelter homeless women and children each night.
Topics
Land Use Control Board Society of St. Vincent de Paul Homeless St. Vincent de Paul Society Ozanam Center Room in the Inn Madison Heights United Methodist Church 1306 Monroe Ave. Memphis Medical District midtown memphisTom Bailey
Tom Bailey retired in January as a business reporter at The Daily Memphian, and after 40 years in journalism. A Tupelo, Mississippi, native, he graduated from Mississippi State University. He has lived in Midtown for 36 years.
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