WORKS OF MERCY
Introduction
Homelessness is Hell
Works of Mercy
Journey for Justice
Abundant Life
Action and Reflection
Holiest of Holies
Street Teachers
Beloved Community
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hospitality is the starting point
for shared life at the Open Door Community.  Every day, members of our community welcome strangers and friends who knock at our door. We offer our guests meals, showers, rest, medicine, and most importantly, welcome.

hospitality is a faith-filled response
to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who stood in solidarity with the poor and oppressed. Hospitality is a witness to Jesus’s words in Matthew 25, in which he exhorted his followers to do works of mercy.  Hospitality makes real the promise that Christ does indeed come in the guise of the stranger – knocking on the door.

welcome begins at table.
Every year, thousands of hungry people come to the Open Door dining room for a nutritious and tasty meal.  Members of the community and faithful volunteers prepare these meals in the Open Door kitchen. Breakfast includes eggs, cheese grits, oranges, coffee, and vitamins. Lunch features a protein-rich soup, sandwiches, peanut butter, coffee, tea, vitamins, and salad and fruit, when available.

Everyone is welcome to eat at this sacred table. Guests do not have to demonstrate “need” to sit at the Open Door table.  Knocking on the door and stepping over the threshold is enough.

hot showers, clean clothes, fresh towels, and toiletries
help to restore dignity to the homeless and poor who come to the Open Door.  Every week, more than 100 people make use of our clean, safe showers and bathrooms, and then they leave with a complete change of fresh clothing.  The comfort of a sturdy pair of shoes takes on new meaning for the homeless, who must walk many miles every day to survive.  In a city that incarcerates thousands for public urination, the Open Door maintains one of the few public bathrooms.

places of sanctuary and rest are rare
for the homeless. The Open Door’s yard, with comfortable benches, shady trees, and a drinking fountain, offers a safe haven unique to the city.  Inside, people can receive mail and use the phone.  The Open Door is known as “Nine-Ten” to people on the streets, who meet here regularly to socialize, volunteer, study, and strategize for justice.

quality health care for the homeless
is offered at the Open Door’s Harriet Tubman Free Medical Clinic and Soul Foot Care Clinic. Volunteer doctors and medical students staff the clinic and save lives in the process. For the poor and uninsured, minor illnesses can quickly spiral out of control, while major diseases remain untreated until it is too late. Foot problems are agonizing for the homeless.  The Open Door’s free clinic intervenes to alleviate some of this suffering.

everyone is welcome at worship on sundays
and holy days. Guest preachers and musicians complement a lively gathering from the street and extended community.  Our eucharistic service weaves together diverse influences from the African-American church tradition, Presbyterian worship, and the Catholic Worker liturgy. After worship, everyone is invited to eat a delicious supper together.

LISTEN! I AM STANDING AT THE DOOR, KNOCKING. LISTEN!