Neighbors in Need

Our Principal Outreach Ministry

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US

There are various ways in which you can make a difference:

• Volunteers help during the monthly drop-by events and with weekly sorting and folding of clothing items, in preparation for those events.

• The program depends on donations of gently used clothing items, as well as monetary donations, which purchase hygiene items, new packs of underwear and socks, and items that are seldom donated.

• We ask for your prayers for the success of this ministry and the wellbeing of all our guests and volunteers.

  Contact us to volunteer or with any questions by clicking here.

More about this ministry…

“Open Doors” are words often used at Saint Mary’s to describe the parish’s identity and mission. On weekdays, the church doors are open for nearly twelve hours, making Saint Mary’s a place for prayer and worship, but also a haven for those in need. This has long been so. During the financial crisis of 2007–2008, we saw a dramatic increase in the number of people who came to rest, even to sleep, in the church’s pews. Over time, we decided that we needed to do more for our many guests who were living without many of life’s necessities.

Several parishioners began to meet, along with one of the resident sisters of the Community of Saint John Baptist and a member of the parish clergy, to discuss this and to come up with a plan of action. After assessing both the parish’s resources and its limitations, the working group decided to begin a ministry that would provide clothing and much-needed hygiene items to those living without shelter in the Times Square neighborhood, as well as to those who were housed but had very limited resources.

After the Saint John Baptist sisters were called back to their motherhouse in Mendham, New Jersey, the brothers of the Society of Saint Francis provided important leadership for this ministry. It was during this time that the ministry gained its name, “Neighbors in Need.”

In the summer of 2021, our Franciscan brothers were called back to their friary in San Francisco. Nevertheless, the sisters, then the brothers, along with the working group of parish volunteers—lay and clerical—had succeeded in developing a successful method for distributing clothing and toiletry articles. Monthly “drop-by days” in the undercroft were events designed to provide a wide range of clothing and hygiene items, coffee and cake, and an opportunity for conversation. Eventually, volunteers from the Legal Aid Society consulted with some of our guests about housing and other matters during these monthly events.

Then, between the monthly “drop-ins,” we began to offer weekly “grab-and-go” hours that allowed us to provide certain emergency items, such as underwear, socks, toothpaste, and some cold-weather clothing.

In the early days of this ministry, we realized that we would need the help of the parish’s friends, members, and visitors if we were going to be able to do everything we wanted to do. And we were not disappointed. We only do what we do because of the generous support of the Saint Mary’s community, near and far, as well as of our neighbors in the Times Square neighborhood. We will be forever grateful for this generous support.

The arrival of the COVID-19 epidemic has meant change and adaptation. We shut down for several months, beginning in March 2020. Eventually, we began to distribute much-needed items from the porch at the Forty-seventh Street entrance to the church. Then, towards the end of 2020, as the temperatures dropped, we realized that the size of the church itself would allow us to host our distribution days more efficiently, but also in a way that was more comfortable, more welcoming, and safer for both our guests and our volunteers.

This system has worked very well and has even allowed us to expand our services. For instance, we’re now able to distribute more winter-weather clothing, including coats and jackets. We’re also able to provide our guests with a more comfortable place to sit, rest, and converse until they’re invited to come forward to the distribution stations.