Homeless Ministry

Meals

We serve over 12,000 meals a year through our justice & compassion ministries, many to the homeless and underfed. The food, as much as it’s needed is only the occasion for the greater gift of community and relationship shared by those who serve and those who receive. In reality, we all do a little of each.

Friday Night Homeless Ministry – Liberty Plaza Park, Ann Arbor

Contact: Pastor Shaun Walker 

Who wants to stand in subzero temperatures serving pizza and coffee while handing out bags of food? Who enjoys doing this in the heat of the summer and the torrential rains of spring for a group of 80-120 people who are generally ignored by the rest of the community?

We do. We are the volunteers of the Ann Arbor Vineyard Homeless Ministry who recognize the dignity of each person by taking God’s kingdom banquet to the streets every Friday evening of every month, of every year since 2006. Volunteers load up a van with food, beverages, grocery bags and clothing, and head to Liberty Plaza Park in downtown Ann Arbor for food and fellowship.

Sign up here to join us on a Friday night!

Monday or Thursday Night Meal – Hope Clinic Ypsilanti

Contact: Pastor Shaun Walker 

Every Monday & Thursday, Hope Clinic offers a meal to people in need at Hope Clinic, which is located at 518 Harriet St. Ypsilanti, MI 48197. We partner with Hope Clinic to provide the guests with high quality food and service, showing God’s love in a practical way. There are two crews needed (cooking crew and serving crew). If you are interested in serving, you can volunteer directly via Hope Clinic’s website. 

Clothing Distribution

Items of clothing are collected at Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor all week long. Volunteers organize all the donated items on Thursday & Friday evenings, and they are handed out at the Park on Friday nights. Some items are purchased to fulfill specific needs that are lacking in the donations.

Donate

If you are interested in donating money simply writing that you’d like to designate your gift to the homeless ministry in the notes section. You can contribute using our secure payment processor: Community Center for Churches » 

Your gift will provide meals to our homeless friends through our regular Friday night dinner at Liberty Plaza (something we’ve been doing since 2006) and through our monthly dinner at the Salvation Army in Ypsilanti.

Donating Time

Friday Nights: Meet at the church at 6pm to help load the truck with totes of food and supplies, make coffee, assign jobs for serving at the park, introduce new volunteers, go over guidelines. Commute together to park, pick up pizza, unload truck, serve/minister to park friends, reload truck. Return to the church, unload the truck. Usually finished by 8:30pm.

Clothes Sorting: Need volunteers to sort through clothing donations to determine if they are appropriate for use for homeless. Usable clothing to be sorted by gender, size, and type. Depending on volume of donations, can be done one to two times per month, generally on a Thursday evening with volunteers who help pack bagged groceries. If done on a regular basis, should only take about an hour or so.

Every Thursday Afternoon: Involves going to Food Gatherers to pick up food that we order, as well as shop through their shelves for any additional items that we can use. Scheduled pick up time is Thursday at 2:30pm, and with pick up, shopping time, and delivering back to the church can take at least an hour, give or take. Heavy lifting.

Special events: In addition to our Friday evening visits, we host special events throughout the year such as a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, Super Bowl Party, and one week of the winter Rotating Shelter. You can volunteer to help at any of these events and will be notified as dates get closer.

You can now sign up here to volunteer at our annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, November 28. We will open the doors to our guests at 11:15am and serve dinner at 11:45.

Donating Clothing & Personal Items

You can make a donation at the church Tuesday through Friday, 9-5, or on Sunday before or after a service. We gladly accept all donations, but we find some of our greatest needs to be:

Most needed clothing items: Gently used jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, gym shoes, boots, and backpacks. In winter we need long-johns, coats, and gloves. Socks and underwear are purchased new. You may donate these items in their original package or, possibly better, donate the money for their purchase.

Most needed personal items: New toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, hand towels, moisturizer/lotion, and razors for shaving. Hotel and travel sizes are great.

Donating Food Items

Soda  and bottled water are distributed every Friday evening at the park and we go through about 100 bottles of water and about 100 12oz cans of store brand soda. These could be purchased every week or every other week. To be dropped off at church. Reimbursed by ministry.

Donations of food staples (such as canned vegetables, meats, fruits, pasta, and soups) are welcome and then distributed to needy guests who have cooking facilities but insufficient funds for needed food.

On behalf of the members of the homeless ministry, we thank you in advance for your generosity. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via email.