Thanksgiving is a time for friends and family to gather. At Our Calling, a faith-based resource center for people experiencing homelessness, the gathering is rooted in dignity.
“My gosh! They wait on us, you know? We’re actually at a table, and people are bringing you your food or drink, whatever you need,” Our Calling ‘neighbor’ Cindy Hulett said wide-eyed. “And they do it with love!”
“Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself,” Our Calling Pastor and CEO Wayne Walker said. “We hope that today is an opportunity for people to look at someone different than them as a neighbor, not as a problem to be solved, but a person to be redeemed.”
Our Calling’s Thanksgiving meal is served by volunteers who bring the food to the table, just like a restaurant. The ‘neighbors’ who use Our Calling’s services are seated at the table with community volunteer table hosts.
“Everybody has dignity; everybody,” volunteer David Waldrup said. “So I’m glad, I’m proud to be here with these men, and just having a good conversation with them.”
“It’s important that we understand each other, and for people to understand the plight of those experiencing homelessness in a first-person reality,” Walker said. “But there’s something different when you’re sharing a meal together.”
“The ones that touch me the most are the ones that bring their children,” Hulett said of the volunteers. “It touches me in my heart because they’re teaching their children what it’s like to care and give to those that are less fortunate.”
Our Calling served more than 1,000 meals on Wednesday to about 500 ‘neighbors’ and 200 volunteers dining alongside them.
“This is the largest concentration of unsheltered people,” Walker said. “Dallas is a tale of two cities; you have people that are really wealthy, and you have people that are really struggling.”
Walker said the unhoused population is growing and that means more volunteers and donations are needed to help them get off the street and back into a community and housing.
“When I come here, I feel like I belong,” Hulett said. “Just the kindness from strangers; I know it sounds cliché, but that’s exactly what it is. It makes me feel seen.”