Homeless Becomes Friends at Highland UMC

At 9:00 A.M. the doors to Highland United Methodist Church open for people who have been waiting outside. These men and women are a part of a community here in Birmingham you may not ever see... the homeless community. The men and women who come through those doors are not strangers, but friends to the volunteers who serve them. Christian Service Mission partners with Highland United Methodist by providing food for this ministry. Six days a week, Highland UMC provides a warm breakfast as well as bathroom facilities, a laundry service, and hygiene bags.

Highland United Methodist also opened as warming stations on the nights of Feb. 8^th and Feb. 9^th. All of these services would not be possible without the volunteers that come and serve. These volunteers truly make a difference in lives of these men and women. The volunteers are at the church at 7:30 in the morning to start warming food and preparing the space. These volunteers not only fix the food, but also buy most of it themselves. As the men and women come through the doors the volunteers are right there to greet them and talk to them. Most of them know everyone by name. The love of Christ can be seen in how the volunteers interact with the men and women that they serve.

Christian Service Mission resources our partner ministries in a variety of ways helping to meet their needs so they can do more for the broken and needy among us. Highland UMC is one of our partners that demonstrates how we can connect resources with needs in our city, and ensure that there is life-on-life ministry happening at the same time. We are certainly glad to see how our food donation are directly impacting those in need here in the Birmingham community.