Homeless for the holidays: “If someone needs food, they get food,” says St. Andrews food kitchen volunteer

St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Destin is experiencing an influx of Destinites reaching out for help, as more and more people are out of work and hurting financially.

Jennifer Lee, the social justice chairperson for St. Andrews, said they offer several programs for homeless and struggling locals, including a Monday lunch, daily bag lunches, a food pantry, gas cards, a community shower and a bicycle program.

“We were seeing our Monday lunches running about ten people,” Lee said. “But now we’re seeing about 20 people.”

In addition to seeing an increase in the homeless population, Lee said that she has been seeing more families stopping by the food pantry. While they have homes, many of these families are one paycheck away from homelessness, and having help with food can be a determining factor in survival.

“If someone needs food, they get food,” Lee said. “They don’t have to pray or show proof of their income. We don’t ask anything of them.”

Rick Crews said that the volunteers at St. Andrews have welcomed him with open arms since he’s been coming by for help over the past five months. He said the church has given him food, a place to shower, a bicycle to get around Destin and a backpack in which to store his few belongings.

“They’re a godsend,” Crews said. “They bend over backwards to help us in any way that they can.”

Crews said he has been traveling around Florida looking for work since losing his construction job two years ago. He’s put his name in the local labor pools but said he’s gotten only 13 days of work in the past two months.

“People classify us as hopeless alcoholics and drug addicts,” Crews said. “But it’s not like we woke up one day and said, ‘I want to live on the street.’ I’d love to have a job and a place to go home to at night and get out of the cold.”

According to Crews, St. Andrews is the only place in the area that helps out homeless residents like himself. While the food is always needed and appreciated, he said the bicycle and shower programs are luxuries that really help people.

“Destin is a long stretch, so the bike they gave me is a major help getting around,” Crews said. “But the shower is the main thing, not only for looking for work, but so we’ll look clean and respectable so people won’t mess with us.”

Lee said the shower used to be open more often, but the water bills were unaffordable. She said that while the church has fundraisers, they can always use donations to help more people. And since they’ve begun seeing new faces every day, they need more help than ever.

“The more volunteers and donations they (St. Andrews) get, the more they do for us,” Crews said. “It’s little churches like this that really care.”

How to help
To make a contribution or to volunteer at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, contact Jennifer Lee, social justice chairperson, at 850-650-2737 or stop by the church at 307 Harbor Blvd. in Destin. While monetary donations are always needed, the church could also use bicycles and volunteers for their bicycle program. Food and clothing donations are also welcome.