Under street lights on Lakeside Avenue East, across from the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, Chef Heather Little braved the cooler temperatures to serve up hot food for the homeless.
“I am the type of person, I just wish I could heal the world, and I just try to heal the world with my gifts, like cooking,” Little said.
An event Little was supposed to cater on Sunday got canceled. Instead of throwing out the food or saving it for her family, she decided to pay it forward and served over 100 people in two hours.
“I’m like, 'Man, I got all this food,' and I'm like, 'What am I going to do with it?'” Little said. “I was like, 'I can go down to the shelter!' I was excited to do that.”
Tent cities across Cleveland are growing by the month, and County officials are aware. Cuyahoga County Unsheltered Workgroup is finalizing the 2023 Cuyahoga County strategic action plan to address unsheltered homelessness by 2027.
But currently, the CEO of the City Mission and Laura's Home, Linda Uvegas, said all area shelters and overflow locations are at max capacity ahead of winter. And while it’s dangerous to brave the elements, many are also missing meals and not being able to get into shelters.
“There is great need, especially for women and children, and also at our men's shelter, we are at capacity,” Uvegas said. “We don't have a wait list for that right now, but we know as the cold weather gets comes here and it's going to be more challenging, especially for really everyone concerned.”
Little said she plans to go to shelters and serve even during the winter months because she feels that’s when people, especially those who live in tents, need help the most.
“I definitely will because that’s when people really need it,” Little said. “And not even just homeless people, like moms with a lot of children that have food insecurity.”
To help offset the high need for services, next week, the city mission is breaking ground on a new transitional housing facility for women and children. It will have 16 units, and families can live there for 18-24 months. It won’t help combat the demand this winter, but next year, it should make a massive difference in tackling overflow.
“That was another reason to have the transitional housing, to move them on to that next phase, to be honest, so we can serve more families,” Uvegas said. "At Laura's Home, where we serve women and children, we recently added an addition and in that addition was a multi-purpose room that is used for overflow. So during cold weather, we will bring out beds, we will accommodate during the cold weather, and we will not turn anyone away because we know that the need is great."
