Manna Meal pauses services at downtown ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä location

The food truck will serve meals at the shelter from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. It will serve at the West Side parking lot from 8:30 to 9 a.m. and 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Meal times have been extended to make sure as many people as possible can eat, Manna Meal Executive Director Amy Wolfe said Thursday.

The organization’s board of directors made the decision Wednesday evening to suspend the services, Wolfe said. A statement from Wolfe said the move was made after an arrest earlier in the day at a neighboring property.

According to a criminal complaint, a man walked up the front steps to Sacred Heart Elementary School while students were entering the building Wednesday and “made a lunging motion with his right hand� toward a woman holding a child. A police officer intervened before any other action was taken, the complaint said.

The man had not eaten at Manna Meal on Wednesday, but he did frequent the facility, Wolfe told the Gazette-Mail.

A statement from St. John’s referenced another incident, which Wolfe said involved a man performing a lewd act, that occurred later Wednesday when Manna Meal wasn’t even open.

Neither incident happened on Manna Meal property, she said.

There have been recent community concerns over security surrounding Manna Meal. Some were even discussed in the Legislature last year.

In September, a man died after falling on a knife he had pulled on another person in the Manna Meal parking lot, police said.

Wolfe said Manna Meal has tried to meet not only the needs of its clients but also the community. She said it became “abundantly clear� that the organization needed to step back to see how it could meet its mission and ensure the safety of the community.

“No one should feel unsafe, either walking into our building for services or walking into a school,� Wolfe said.

In her statement, Wolfe said a common misconception is that the only people who use Manna Meal’s services are homeless.

“That’s just not true. For some members of our community, the meals they receive from our kitchen are making the difference and preventing them from losing their home,� she said. “Food security is a pathway to homelessness prevention — and prevention is our best tool as a community in the fight against homelessness.�

Because the closure decision was made late Wednesday, Wolfe got to work two hours early Thursday to tell clients where they could get meals.

“Our goal is to not only feed people, but to do it in a very dignified and easy way, so there are no barriers,� she said. “And, unfortunately today, there were some stumbling blocks.�

Food is being prepared at the church and taken to the food truck. As far simply serving meals, the truck is just as effective as the brick-and-mortar kitchen, Wolfe said. But there are other things the St. John’s location provided.

“When you’re inside, you have a respite from the elements. You have a place to put down your belongings. You have a place to actually sit down and eat. You have a place to go to the restroom, wash your hands,� she said, adding the fellowship element of sitting at a table with someone.

She said she hopes to recreate these elements with the food truck, but she doesn’t know how long Manna Meal will be mobile.

ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said in a statement that the Manna Meal executive committee took the lead on deciding to suspend services at the St. John’s location.

“This is a good organization that, I believe, has a great group of board members who know that, to have a successful organization, you must be able to be flexible and change systems or structures when necessary,� she said.

ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s city government has consistently supported the organization with funding and support of the CARE team, Goodwin said. The support will continue, she added.

Jim Lewis, who founded Manna Meal in the early 1970s, said the issues of homelessness and mental health are all around the country, not just in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä.

While no longer holding an official position with Manna Meal, he argued that Manna Meal should be responsible for what happens at Manna Meal, and Sacred Heart should be responsible for what happens on its campus.

Church representatives were not available for comment.

“Someone could say, ‘We’ve just had enough of this in the neighborhood, and our children are at stake here, too,’� he said. “Well yes, I’ll tell you your children will be at stake, too, if they don’t deal with [these issues] now.�

Lewis warned against making Manna Meal a scapegoat for a larger problem. He said he hopes the mayor will form a committee to study the larger issues of mental illness and homelessness.

“This is an opportunity for us to really face up to things. They’re not like they were in 1974,� he said. “It’s an opportunity to do what we have always done well here — come together and meet the problem. We did it in the ’70s. We continue to do it.�

Wolfe said that, as the social service agency that feeds the most people in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, Manna Meal does get a lot of attention and that people do attach community incidents to the organization. However, she said she is not naive to the fact that some traffic to the area is because of Manna Meal’s current location.

To reopen, she said, there will need to be some lengthy discussions.

“We are committed to being part of the solution,� she said. “These are very complex issues.�

Manna Meal’s board of directors will meet next week to discuss the organization’s next steps.