Foodshare Committee

The Foodshare Committee coordinates various groups within the community who wish to serve and/or provide meals to the homeless. Volunteers can contact this committee to sign up for a date to either serve either lunch or dinner to our homeless. Groups can choose to provide food or serve food prepared at the Opportunity Center. This program is a huge help in ensuring our homeless have warm, nutritious meals and is a wonderful way for community members to share a meal with the homeless! If you are interested in helping with a meal, please take a look at our calendar page to see which days you could fit in and contact Bessie Evans at 755-4170 to set a date.

Another opportunity to get involved with feeding the homeless is to help stock our food pantry. The pantry is always in need of the following items:

-staple items (flour, oil, rice, sugar, etc.)

-meat

-coffee

-canned goods (tomatoes, vegetables, etc.)

Please call the number above or the Opportunity Center if you have any questions. Let us fill all of the empty plates!

New and Upcoming Projects

         To respond to the growing number of homeless families in our community, the Opportunity Center has begun to develop plans for a new family shelter. The El Paso Coalition for the Homeless identifies an estimated 1,400 men, women, and youth/children seeking shelter and services every night. Many of those seeking assistance are single or dual-parent families with no place to go. With the current shelter system stretched to the limit and unable to meet the needs of this growing population, it is clear that a new program to serve homeless families is essential. 

 

            The Opportunity Center has secured a long-term lease on the 510 S. Oregon Street property and is engaging in planning efforts to renovate the facility. The goal of the project will be to house upwards of 20 families per year, connect them with supportive services, and support their efforts to transition out of homelessness. This facility will address both short-term emergency housing and transitional housing needs of families. 

            A unique aspect of this project is that it will allow all family members to be housed together. While other local shelter facilities often separate families if there is a father or male over the age of 12 years of age, it is our belief that keeping the family unit intact is an added relief to families already struggling with the challenges of homelessness. Whether families experience homelessness due to loss of income, housing, employment, benefits, family violence, or other difficult situations, we will seek to provide them with a safe place in which to rebuild and work towards self-sufficiency.  

            If you are interested in supporting this new project, please visit our donations page or contact the Opportunity Center!