Crisis Ministries fills a growing need in area

It's not unusual for men and women to begin lining up at the back door of Crisis Ministries an hour or more before volunteers start serving lunch at 11:30 a.m.

"I think as the lines get longer, the people try to arrive earlier," said Leigh Danley, director of community relations and annual giving.

The shelter's soup kitchen served an average of 180 people for lunch each day last year. On Nov. 16, it hit a peak of 273 people.

"It's the first time our executive director has seen people driving to the soup kitchen," Danley said. "We have men who come here and eat one time a day so their wives and kids can eat."

Breakfast and dinner are served to clients who are staying at the center, but lunch is the only meal at Crisis Ministries open to anyone. No questions are asked, and people are served until the food runs out. Lunch is served every day of the year, and the staff is expecting about 300 people to show up for Thanksgiving.

Danley attributes the increase to the poor economy and said the need goes beyond food.

The shelter has been operating at capacity the past two months, Danley said.

"We're the only barrier-free shelter in the state of South Carolina," Danley said. "We basically don't turn anyone away as long as they're not violent, on drugs or intoxicated at the time of their arrival."

Karen Diane Greene, 56, came to the shelter in December 2007. Greene's husband of 35 years died, and living with one of her children didn't work out.

She lived with two other people in an old camper in the woods in North Charleston for a while. There was no heat or air, no electricity and no bathroom. The other two people had a bed in the back of the camper, and Greene slept in the driver's seat.

"I had nowhere to go and a friend told me about Crisis Ministries, so I came here," she said.

Greene lives in the Family Center, which is mostly for women and children but also allows married couples to stay with their children. She uses bus passes provided by Crisis Ministries to get around. She meets regularly with a case worker who has helped her apply for disability, something Greene said she wouldn't have known how to do on her own.

"I hope to get my disability, get a home and start living again. Have my grandchildren over," Greene said.

With the facility operating at capacity and more people needing a decent lunch, Crisis Ministries can always use volunteers and donations of nonperishable food items, Danley said. All meals are prepared and served by volunteers. People wishing to donate food are asked to call first.

Crisis Ministries also just set up its first Cold Weather Fund.

The night of Nov. 18, when temperatures reached near freezing, 86 men spent the night on bunk beds at the shelter. Room ran out.

"It was very hard to turn people away," Danley said.

Money donated to the fund will be used to buy sleeping mats. The staff can't accept donations of mats because they have to meet code, so they'll have to be purchased from one of several companies, Danley said.

Word of the fund has just started circulating, and $300 had been donated as of Nov. 19.