{"id":330071,"date":"2025-10-24T21:45:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T21:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/330071\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T21:45:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T21:45:16","slug":"the-stewpot-advocates-for-community-support-love-at-50-year-anniversary-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/330071\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stewpot advocates for community support, love at 50 year anniversary celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a rainy Friday morning, Ardresha Wilson, a member of the Dallas Street Choir<\/a>, sat on a bench outside The Stewpot enjoying a chocolate chip muffin and tossing a thumbs-up at everyone who passed. <\/p>\n

Stewpot volunteers and employees milled around, welcoming people of all walks of life to grab food and a seat.<\/p>\n

Wilson was waiting for her moment to perform \u201cPut A Little Love in Your Heart\u201d with the choir on center stage to help celebrate The Stewpot\u2019s anniversary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the past 11 years, Wilson has been a member of the choir and received support from The Stewpot, where she said she can give back and be surrounded by people that love her.<\/p>\n

Breaking News<\/p>\n

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Wilson was one of over 100 people gathered to celebrate The Stewpot\u2019s anniversary.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the Dallas Street Choir combine their voices and raise them in song as The Stewpot held its 50th birthday celebration at 1610 Malcolm X Boulevard in Dallas on October 24, 2025.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

The celebration included food, performances by the choir and speeches from city and organization leaders.<\/p>\n

The Stewpot<\/a>, founded in 1975, is a homelessness and at-risk individuals support initiative through First Presbyterian Church of Dallas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe true heartbeat of our mission is in the quiet everyday acts of service \u2014 one neighbor connecting with another, serving a meal, giving out resources to make the way easier for someone who is struggling,\u201d Brenda Snitzer, executive director of The Stewpot, said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe see suffering every day at The Stewpot, but we also see joy, compassion and hope,\u201d Snitzer said.<\/p>\n

Dallas County Commissioner Theresa Daniel and Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno gave The Stewpot resolutions to recognize its service and dedication to the community. <\/p>\n

The celebration comes after a year of events designed to engage the community in providing support to those in need, Snitzer said.<\/p>\n

\"Stewpot<\/p>\n

Stewpot Executive Director Brenda Snitzer shares her appreciation to all of the vast network of volunteers that have worked for a half century to help make a difference in the lives of others. The Stewpot held its 50th birthday celebration at 1610 Malcolm X Boulevard in Dallas on October 24, 2025.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

\u201cAt The Stewpot, we believe in a future where no neighbor is left behind and every soul can thrive,\u201d Snitzer said.<\/p>\n

The Stewpot will host a celebratory picnic<\/a> on Saturday, Nov. 1 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. with barbecue and activities, according to The Stewpot\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

50 years of passion, dedication<\/p>\n

Although The Stewpot began as a soup kitchen in the basement of a church, the organization has become so much more, Betty Heckman, The Stewpot\u2019s director of enrichment programs, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to serve the whole person now,\u201d Heckman said. \u201cYes, we still meet a basic need of feeding, but we also take care of clothing, medical, dental, mental health, housing and hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its founding, The Stewpot has served over 9 million meals, she said. <\/p>\n

The organization has also helped recover over 113,000 identification documents and house 337 people since its rehousing program began in 2021.<\/p>\n

\"Guests<\/p>\n

Guests bow their heads during a prayer as The Stewpot held its 50th birthday celebration at 1610 Malcolm X Boulevard in Dallas on October 24, 2025.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

The Stewpot relocated its main operation<\/a> to a larger facility at 1610 Malcolm X Blvd. in December 2024 to meet the growing needs of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now serve our neighbors at three campuses. It takes all of us, the city, the county, nonprofits, philanthropic communities and everyday citizens,\u201d Snitzer said. \u201cEven with this progress, our work is not done. Poverty and homelessness are still real, so we\u2019ll continue to fight together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loving \u2018Thy Neighbor\u2019<\/p>\n

An art book, Thy Neighbor: Stories of Struggle, Strength, and Shared Humanity<\/a>, debuted in January in honor of the organization\u2019s anniversary. <\/p>\n

The book was inspired by the organization\u2019s goal of spreading love through action and provides a look into the experiences and perspectives of the community Stewpot serves, Heckman said.<\/p>\n

It features original art and writings collected from Stewpot\u2019s art and writing programs. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Stewpot made available copies of the Stewpot story compiled into a book entitled “Thy Neighbor” as part of its 50th Birthday Celebration which was held at 1610 Malcolm X Boulevard in Dallas on October 24, 2025.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

The artwork for the book was selected by Heckman who said she chose the 36 images in the book in collaboration with Les Kerr, the book\u2019s editor. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tangible thing people can read to learn about firsthand accounts,\u201d Heckman said. \u201cAll the writers were speaking from personal experience, and folks can see the art in the book as well and realize people experiencing homelessness are very talented.\u201d<\/p>\n

William McKenzie, a contributing columnist<\/a> at The Dallas Morning News and senior editorial advisor at the George W. Bush Institute<\/a>, started volunteering at Stewpot in 1993 and began the Writers\u2019 Workshop<\/a> in 2020 with volunteer Poppy Sundeen. <\/p>\n

McKenzie coedited Thy Neighbor and helped select the final writings for the book, which took around six to eight months to complete, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe part that stood out the most is the friendships that developed, not only with us and the writers, but among the writers themselves and how they care for each other,\u201d McKenzie said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The hashtag #homelessnotvoiceless is used to promote the Dallas Street Choir as their mission is to use music to give a voice to people experiencing homelessness. The group performed on stage at the 50th birthday celebration of Stewpot which was held at 1610 Malcolm X Boulevard in Dallas on October 24, 2025.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe theme in Thy Neighbor is that we\u2019re all in this together,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope the book will at least begin the process of helping people understand these are real human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenzie said he can be found at The Stewpot campus every Friday morning for the workshop. <\/p>\n

The book is available as a thank you gift for Stewpot donations of $30 or more, according to The Stewpot\u2019s website<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a rainy Friday morning, Ardresha Wilson, a member of the Dallas Street Choir, sat on a bench…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":330072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,7290,14052,7265,68910,256,14053,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-330071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-county","11":"tag-downtown-dallas","12":"tag-homelessness","13":"tag-inspired","14":"tag-philanthropy","15":"tag-south-dallas","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115431337519186840","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}