Capuchin Community Services is one ministry with two sites and two related missions. At the House of Peace our mission is to keep families together and help people who are struggling remain in their homes. At Saint Ben’s Community Meal our ministry provides a place of support, comfort, and hospitality for people who are struggling with poverty and lack of resources, many of whom experience housing instability.
CCS is volunteer-driven and site-specific, and its ministries are places of connection where the works of mercy are shared between those who have and those who need. We all have gifts, and we all have needs, and these realities are shared in beautiful ways at the HOP and Saint Ben’s.
The House of Peace offers the only emergency food pantry in the city that is open five days a week, and provides support for families through its Clothing Closet and participation in the Strong Babies Sanctuary network. The HOP hosts one of two UW-M Community Health and Wellness Center locations, as well as the Marquette University Volunteer Legal Clinic.
Saint Ben’s has hosted a community meal since 1970, and in the years since the meal began has expanded its services to include a winter Warming Center, a social worker, laundromat, showers with a change of clothes, and supportive services for people with chronic health issues.
After 18 months of delivering hot meals to communities in need, and after hosting a meal in our parking lot every Wednesday from May through August, the Meal Hall at Saint Ben’s re-opened on September 7, 2021, with dinner served Sundays through Thursdays, and take-away lunches provided on Fridays. Our arrangements were inspected and approved by the city’s Department of Health, and we are committed to serving safely, all the while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere and providing a bountiful meal, through the help of our 60+ meal sponsor groups.
At our two sites in 2021 we have hosted eight COVID-19 vaccination clinics, and we are planning for more. We are most grateful for all the community and faith-based support that allows us to not only serve, but as well to plan and pivot where needed. May God give you peace.