Upcoming Events

Dear Capuchin Soup Kitchen Supporter,

Although I’m not a parent, I have loads of respect for those who raise, teach, and coach young people in our society.

Helping mentor and support kids who are at risk is just another aspect the ministries of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in which you so generously share. As you well know, we’re much more than just “soup.”

Hope is also on the menu here. I’d like to introduce you to a very special woman who has been serving up “hope” to neighborhood kids for nearly twenty years now.

 

Summer Peace Camp Video

Support the Rosa Parks Children's Program

Sister Nancyann Turner is member of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan. Dominicans are considered “cousins” to the Capuchin Franciscans because Saint Dominic and Saint Francis founded their communities about the same time in the thirteenth century to walk with and serve people facing poverty and difficult circumstances.

Sister Nancyann became a part of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen staff in 1999 with a burning desire to walk with people who were struggling and to be the change she wanted to see in the city. She came with many years of teaching experience and as a certified art therapist.

She proposed that we open our Capuchin Soup Kitchen Conner site doors to neighborhood boys and girls. She envisioned a safe gathering place where they could play, learn and be nurtured without fear of the city violence and poverty that surrounded them. 

This was the was the start of the Rosa Parks Children’s Program. A space was prepared, volunteers came forward, but no kids.

That’s when Sister Nancyann showed her fighting spirit and holy determination. She began walking the east-side neighborhood near the soup kitchen. She knocked on doors, and met young, single mothers and older struggling grandmothers raising little ones on next to no money.

Sister Nancyann asked the key question, “What do your kids need?”

And from their heartfelt responses, she began to build The Rosa Parks Children’s program. A children’s library began to be formed. Programs for tutoring and art therapy were set up.

Art Therapy programs were developed to help children and youth deal with emotional problems and build self-esteem. All the programs help the children expand their creativity. Our tutoring activities support the kids’ academic progress, and the conflict resolution training encourages the kids to deal with adversity in creative and peaceful ways.

Here every child knows they are loved, accepted and brimming with potential for success. Here every child is safe, respected and cherished.

Will you please support the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, and especially these children who share in our Rosa Parks Children’s Program?

Sister Nancyann has great plans for them this summer, including a three week “Peace Camp”, a young leadership camp and many fun and educational field trips.

The children’s Peace Garden continues throughout the summer. These city kids love playing gardener and even farmer, helping to sow seeds and nurture them to full growth and maturity.

Their garden is a wonderful metaphor for Rosa Parks Children’s Program, I think. All of us can help nurture children, especially those who have been planted in difficult situations through no fault of their own. 

It takes a loving community to protect, nurture and raise up healthy, kind and giving children, especially kids being raised in poverty and sometimes in fear. This ministry is a great sign of hope for the future of our community. I can see that in the smiling faces of dozens of children welcomed here day after day by Sister Nancyann and her team.

Will you join Sister Nancyann, the rest of our dedicated staff and volunteers, and give generously to help support our kids?

Together, through our ministries like The Rosa Parks Children’s Program, we are feeding young bodies, nourishing souls, and strengthening communities in the heart of this great city.

For the many kids, along with their parents, who participate in our Rosa Parks Children’s program, this can give them the tools to reach their potential and support their dreams.

I’m so happy to introduce you to Sr. Nancyann and the great program she helped begin and has sustained for nearly twenty years.

 

I’m deeply grateful for your time and may God’s peace and blessings be with you,

Br. Jerry Johnson, OFM Cap. Director

Each and every gift, no matter the size, will support the kids with their dreams and goals! Thank you for your kindness! 

Support the Rosa Parks Children's Program

In 2022, the Capuchin Soup Kitchen provided over 150,000 meals at our Conner and Meldrum soup kitchens. We thank all of you for your dedicated support of our ministry. Learn about different ways to support us.

Meldrum Kitchen

We served 52,000 meals last year at this location. Approximately 200 meals a day are served at the Meldrum Kitchen. Our Meldrum guests are typically male, experiencing homelessness or in unstable housing, often diagnosed with a mental illness and/or substance abuse addiction.

We provided an opportunity for individuals to receive a shower at this location. Our facility provides showers and a change of clothing each day to give those in need a fresh focus and an increased sense of dignity and self-worth.

Conner Kitchen

We served 98,000 meals last year at this location. Approximately 320 meals a day are served at the Conner Kitchen to working families and seniors. As many as one-third of its meals are served to children 12 and under. 

 

Service Center

We provided 1,252,121 pounds of food last year to our Detroit neighbors. The food pantry serves about 240 people per day, many of which represent households, which amounts to about 5,000 pounds of food every day. The Service Center features a 'shoppers' choice' food pantry to resemble a small grocery store, complete with reach-in freezers and coolers, vegetable and fruit islands, bread and pastry racks.  

< June, 2018 >