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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Kelly Greene, founder of Food for Our Journey, picks out a doughnut for a person in need as she provides them with fruit, water and other necessities during a morning delivery route in downtown Birmingham on March 9.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Christine Golab and Kelly Greene, founders of Food for Our Journey, stand beside the delivery van at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church as they prepare for the afternoon Food for Our Journey deliveries to individuals in need in Birmingham.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Kelly Greene hands Christine Golab a tray of biscuits at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Kelly Greene, founder of Food for Our Journey, and Walter Kirkland, a manager at Jack’s in downtown Homewood, pack a box with plain biscuits and sausage biscuits as Greene prepares for a morning food delivery in Birmingham.
It was the fall of 2018, and Kelly Greene was attending her usual 5 p.m. Sunday mass at Prince of Peace Catholic Church when she felt God telling her she needed to start a food truck to serve people who are homeless or hungry and disadvantaged.
She and her family for years had volunteered at shelters and food pantries, but when she and her husband, Joe, became empty-nesters, they started praying for God to show them the path to take for the next chapter of their lives.
Greene said God clearly spoke to her that Sunday evening that He wanted them to start a food truck.
While homeless people can get meals at shelters and food pantries, they’re not always able to get to those places when the meals are served, Greene said. Many lack transportation, and sometimes it’s hard to get out of makeshift shelters if it’s cold or stormy, she said. if they can’t get to the shelter kitchen at the right time, they go without food, she said.
“I thought if we could take the food to where they are, then it would help to ensure they won’t miss,” Greene said.
She and Joe spent months investigating what it would take to bring the idea to fruition and by April 2019 had secured 501(c)3 nonprofit status and begun raising money.
Initially, she thought they would be cooking food in the food truck to give out to people, but she quickly learned after talking to friends with restaurants and catering companies that there is so much food already out there that is going to waste that she didn’t need to make more.
Instead, Greene and her nonprofit, called Food For Our Journey, partner with restaurants, catering companies, grocery stores, churches and individuals to collect leftover food and other donated food for distribution.
That meant she didn’t need a vehicle equipped with a full kitchen. Instead, she and her nonprofit were able to obtain a cargo van equipped for catering purposes. McSweeney Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Pell City gave the nonprofit a discount, so they only had to come up with $10,000 for it, she said. “It was a huge blessing.”
400 MEALS A DAY
In the beginning, Food For Our Journey had about 10 regular food providers, such as Vecchia Pizzeria and Mercato in The Preserve, the Redmont Hotel, Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa, Black Market Bar & Grill and Dave’s Pizza. They were serving 40-50 people a day, Greene said.
Now, four years later, there are about 20 regular food providers and many more that provide food occasionally, Greene said. The nonprofit serves about 250 people a day, giving out about 400 meals during breakfast and lunch, she said. In 2022, Food For Our Journey served 144,760 meals to homeless and hungry people, according to the nonprofit’s website.
The Food For Our Journey van goes out seven days a week, starting to make rounds about 9 a.m. and going til about 3:30 p.m. each day, Greene said. The nonprofit targets areas where homeless people stay and has several specific stops it makes at the same time and place every day, she said. The service area is downtown Birmingham, from Lakeview to Interstate 65 and from the Vulcan statue to the Interstate 20/59 area, she said.
Greene, who is the nonprofit’s executive director, typically mans the van herself on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, while her assistant director, Christine Golab, goes out on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Part-time drivers cover weekend deliveries, and there is almost always a second volunteer in the van, Greene said.
There are about 25 regular volunteers and about 150 other occasional volunteers every year, she said. Volunteers can sign up to serve on the nonprofit’s website. “We get new people every day.”
However, drivers are fully trained and know where to go and what to do, Greene said. The training is not difficult, but no volunteer is ever sent out without a trained leader, she said.
Catherine Moore, a retired teacher who lives in Hoover on Shades Crest Road and who has known Greene since their college days, has been volunteering with Food For Our Journey for about three years.
She said she didn’t have any idea what she was getting into when she started, but the experience has been life changing. Homeless people can be somewhat invisible to a lot of people, but serving with Food For Our Journey has really opened her eyes to see them. “It’s like taking a film off a window,” she said.
She feels honored and privileged to be able to see into their lives and hear their stories, she said. “There are so many different reasons why someone might wind up on the streets,” she said.
And while some people might view her volunteer work as her helping them, she sees it as them helping her, too, she said.
“It’s increased my world,” Moore said. “They’re beautiful people, and they’re so grateful and thankful. … They are grateful to be alive. It just makes you reassess your priorities. … It makes some of what we fuss about seem really inadequate.”
Volunteers come from all over, but many are affiliated with churches such as Prince of Peace, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church of the Highlands, Independent Presbyterian Church, Temple Emanuel and Temple Beth-El, Greene said.
WHAT KIND OF FOOD?
Before the food can be delivered, it must be picked up. There is a wide variety of providers, from places such as Arby’s, Jack’s, Dave’s Pizza, Flying Biscuit Cafe, Shiki, Shipley Do-Nuts and The Heavenly Donut Co. to Vecchia and Moss Rock Tacos & Tequila.
Benard Tamburello, the owner of the latter two restaurants, has been a strong supporter of Food For Our Journey since its inception, Greene said. Some days, he’ll provide leftover meatballs marinara; other days it might be basil marinara or chicken alfredo and garlic bread knots, she said.
Restaurants are not the only providers. Publix provides 40 chicken salad sandwich bags once a month, in addition to other items, Greene said. Also, many catering companies, churches, businesses and community groups will call with leftover food from events, parties, corporate meetings, weddings and other get-togethers, she said.
And there are a slew of churches and individuals that prepare food especially for Food For Our Journey. Each Sunday, a different Catholic church prepares a big, hot meal. Prince of Peace takes two Sundays each month, while Our Lady of Sorrows takes two and St. Peter’s Catholic Church takes the fifth Sunday when there is one. The Sunday dinner always involves greater portions — just like many families often have bigger Sunday dinners, Greene said.
Two individual volunteers — Nancy Heck of Homewood and Priscilla Davis of Birmingham — also each Sunday get together and prepare 40 bag lunches for distribution by Food for Our Journey on Mondays. Each bag contains a ham and cheese sandwich, chips and/or crackers, yogurt, cheese sticks, fruit, snack cakes or cookies for dessert, chocolate milk or Gatorade, napkins, hand wipes and mints.
A few people give them items to put in the bags so it doesn’t all come out of their pockets, Heck said. But for them, it’s not a burden, she said. They just love serving the poor and doing for other people like they would do for Jesus, she said. “We’re trying to live the gospel.”
COMMUNITY EFFORT
In November, the Vulcan Park Foundation gave Greene its Servant Leadership Award for her work with Food For Our Journey.
Greene is quick to point out that she does not do the work alone. While she is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit, Golab is out on the streets just as much as anyone, she said. Their husbands serve as chairman and vice chairman of the nonprofit’s board of directors, and the entire board plays a vital role, she said.
There is an army of volunteers, donors and food providers and a multitude of agencies and community groups who partner with Food for Our Journey to help people on the streets, so it’s truly a community effort, Greene said.
Before Greene launched the nonprofit, she asked Golab to give up her 16-year teaching career and join her. Golab, who lives in the Wine Ridge community off Caldwell Mill Road, said she knew immediately it was her calling, too.
NOT JUST FOOD
Food For Our Journey doesn’t just serve food. Greene, Golab and the other volunteers hand out personal hygiene items and clothing and help connect people on the street to agencies that can help them in other ways.
It may be one of the shelters in town, or it may be Community on the Rise (which helps people get ID cards and birth certificates and move out of homelessness). It might be the Jefferson, Blount Shelby Mental Health Authority, Alabama Regional Medical Services or Recovery Resources (which helps people battling addictions).
People who are homeless have a lot of needs, but sometimes it’s hard for them to figure out what to do about it when they’re hungry, Greene said. Food For Our Journey wants to address that basic human need for food and build bridges with people to address the other needs in their lives, she said.
“We want to minister to the whole person — physically, emotionally and spiritually, and we want to value the person within,” Greene said. “When you’re alone and in trouble and it seems you have no one to help and to work with you and assist with these problems, we want to be that group.”
Food For Our Journey wants to not just do something for people, but walk with people, Greene said.
Taevon Smith, a man who lived on the streets for a while until he was able to move in with his aunt in downtown Birmingham, said he has benefited from Food For Our Journey for a long time and still gets food from the group.
“I think it’s great. It’s a blessing,” Smith said while getting some lunch near St. Paul’s Cathedral recently. “They could be at home doing other things, but they take the time to feed all these people who live on the streets and people in the community. They’re some good people.”
Anthony Burrell, another man who has been living out of his Chevrolet Trailblazer since he fell on hard times, said Food For Our Journey had been helping him for four to six months, and he very much appreciates the generosity.
“If it wasn’t for them, there ain’t no telling,” Burrell said. “The crime rate would be going up if they weren’t out here.”
People would be committing crimes to get food or money for food, he said. He just wishes there were more places to take a bath or change clothes, he said.
Karen Turnbow, a retired child psychologist who volunteers with Food For Our Journey, said Greene is an absolute angel when it comes to helping homeless people.
“She brings tears to my eyes,” Turnbow said. “She treats every single person with dignity and respect.”
Greene said it’s humbling to have people who are going through scary times trust you enough to share their stories with you. There are many reasons why people become homeless and hungry, and you can never know what might be in store for yourself in the future, she said.
“All of us are walking this journey together. We might be in different places or facing different circumstances, but we’re called to be there for one another, to love one another. We’re called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, providing not just physical food, but spiritual food. We’re here to provide whatever nutrients you need, whether that’s a plate of food, an ear [to listen], a hug or a shoulder to cry on.”
Golab said the ministry work sometimes can be a test of patience. She’s a planner and a structured person, and she sometimes panics trying to figure out how to get everything to work. But God always delivers what they need to help people, and he always does it in a big way, she said.
“To be out there in it, not every day is a fantastic day full of rainbows and lollipops, but every day, you get to be a part in the hope for those who are seeking hope and those who have lost hope,” Golab said.
Greene said she doesn’t think the problem of homelessness will ever be eradicated, but she plans to keep Food For Our Journey going until God calls her elsewhere.
“As long as there are people who need our help and we’re in a position to do that, it’s such a blessing, and it’s such an honor,” she said. “We feel we are called to help our brothers and sisters in any way we can. … As long as we can make a difference, we’ll continue to do so.”
To find out more about Food For Our Journey and how to volunteer or donate, go to their website foodforourjourney.org.
