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Quincy Crisis Center

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Quincy Crisis Center

282 Billings Road
PO Box 31
Quincy, MA 02170

Hot Meal Program
History and Mission
Newsletter "The Mustard Seed"
Ways to Help

Emergency Hotline 617-471-7075
Business and Volunteer (Non-Emergency) line: 617-847-6967

Email: sangercenter@comcast.net

Hot Meal Program:

The Quincy Crisis Center's food programs include emergency food delivery, daily hot meals and a holiday meal program. A major piece of our mission is to "advance a culture of compassion." To that end, we encourage the donation of food, time, and relationship along with financial donations. Approximately 80% of the hot meals served in our noon feeding program are prepared and provided as in-kind donations from a variety of individuals, church and civic groups. We have a "Walk the Block" program and other programs that solicit canned goods, holiday turkeys and hams, produce and baked goods for both feeding programs. A variety of individuals, churches, businesses and civic groups and organizations assist us. We minimize the money we actually spend on food by using what we have to encourage others to give of themselves.

LOCATION:

United First Parish Church
1306 Hancock Street
Quincy, MA
(note, donations of food are accepted at the Crisis Center, not the church)

Monday 1:00 PM

Tuesday 1:00 PM

Wednesday 1:30 PM

Thursday 1:00 PM

Friday 1:00 PM

Needs: New books, new toys, baby items; turkeys; canned vegetables; stuffing mix; dessert mix; pie filling; spaghetti sauce; tomato products; cereal; tuna; peanut butter; macaroni and cheese.

Our "Help for the Holidays" at Thanksgiving and Christmas serves 150-200 homes per holiday. The 1999 Holiday Program reached over 300 families representing over 1000 individuals. Thanksgiving food packages include complete fixings for a Thanksgiving meal, including turkeys, produce, etc. Christmas packages include a similar meal and gifts of clothing, toys, and outerwear for children. Holiday meal deliveries are accompanied by a 5 (five) day supply of food through the Emergency Food Delivery program.

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History and Mission:

The Quincy Crisis Center is a faith-based outreach agency. Her primary mission is to serve the needs of marginalized and forgotten people while promoting social justice, biblical compassion and solidarity with the hungry, the hurting and the homeless poor. We seek, through our 24-hour hotline, emergency food services, and advocacy programs, to offer support for the whole person -- body, mind and spirit -- while maintaining human dignity in time of profound crisis and offering hope at the point of despair. We seek to be the cushion for those who slip through the "safety net" of other programs and services. Our mission compels us to go out to meet the hungry, homeless, and hurting where they are; providing free hot meals, emergency grocery delivery and crisis counseling. Our mission also compels us to bring others with us, advancing a culture of compassion that recognizes that the needs of others are, in fact, my need and your need.

Quincy Crisis Center (QCC) began in 1978 when Esther Sanger started a crisis hotline and later began serving meals to the homeless and poor from her van on the streets of Quincy. She began by posting her phone number around Quincy, on telephone polls, in laundromats, etc. with a simple message, "Need Help? Call Esther" and by going out into the community to meet the homeless. Over the past 20 years, her ministry has grown from a one woman effort into the present organization, now named in her memory, the "Esther R. Sanger Center for Compassion." The Sanger Center is the umbrella organization for two of Esther's efforts to meet the needs of the marginalized. Quincy Crisis Center is one program partner. The Sanger Center's other program partner is the Mary-Martha Learning Center, an emergency shelter, providing an education program, food and shelter to homeless women with children. The Mary-Martha Learning Center is located in Hingham.

Quincy Crisis Center is a part of the Esther R. Sanger Center for Compassion, (ERSCC) and is governed by the ERSCC Board of Directors. Quincy Crisis Center (QCC) and the Mary Martha Learning Center (MMLC) Program Directors answer to the Executive Coordinator of the ERSCC who is appointed by the Board.

Quincy Crisis Center (QCC) serves hungry people and people in need without red tape, questions or verification of need. If someone expresses a need for food, we meet that need through referral, food delivery or the hot meal program. We believe that a perceived need is a need and that a person's dignity should be respected to the extent that they should not have to defend their request for help. Because QCC focuses on meeting the needs of the whole person -- body, mind and spirit -- our staff and volunteers work on developing relationships with the people who request assistance. In this relationship, we often meter our response when needed to encourage personal responsibility and independence. Basically this means that some families may be limited to one food delivery per month. No one is turned away from the Hot Meal program, except for disciplinary problems.

The current programs of the Quincy Crisis Center are:

Faith Covenant Meal - Hot Meal Program
A free, nutritious noon meal is served every weekday in Quincy Center. Over 11,000 meals are served a year with no sign ups or pre-qualifications involved. Currently, this program operates in the basement of the United First Parish Church (Church of the Presidents), 1306 Hancock Street, Monday through Friday, at 1:00 PM. Volunteers are always welcome to help prepare and serve the meal, and we are always grateful for food donations.

Food for Families - Food Delivery Program
Our food pantry is the only one on the South Shore that regularly delivers free groceries directly to the homes of the hungry. Each year, this “food pantry on wheels” serves over 1,300 elderly, disabled shut-ins, and others who cannot access other food pantries.

24 Hour Crisis Hotline - 617-471-7075
The QCC Hotline provides a compassionate response to people in crisis through free confidential crisis counseling, information, and referrals to other agencies that can provide the needed help.

Sojourners - Visitation and Advocacy Program
This program serves isolated adults, primarily senior citizens or the disabled, who would benefit from a visit by a friendly volunteer. By dropping by for a chat, sojourners help a lonely person enjoy a laugh, make a new friend, and get over a bump in the road.

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The Mustard Seed - our Newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 2 - Fall 2000
Volume 4, Issue 3 - Fall 2001
Volume 5, Issue 2 - Spring, 2002
Volume 6, Issue 1 - Winter, 2004
Volume 6, Issue 2, - Spring, 2004

Ways to Help:

Monetary donations: Please mail to:
Quincy Crisis Center
PO Box 31
Quincy, MA 02170

For any questions regarding donations, please call 617-847-6967.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Quincy Crisis Center needs volunteers to help advance a culture of compassion. Volunteering is flexible and can be customized to fit your skills and schedule. To learn more about any of these opportunities, please call our Program Director at 617-847-6967.

to make deliveries to those who have requested food assistance;

to help with the Faith Covenant Meal Program in Quincy Center;

to help in the Food for Families pantry;

to pick up bread in Weymouth (Tuesday a.m.) and Braintree (Friday afternoons);

to help with clerical office work - data entry, preparing mailings, etc.

public relations assistant

special event director • food drive director

visiting elderly and disabled shut-ins F

FOOD FOR FAMILIES NEEDS: Please donate:

spaghetti sauce, tomato products

Canned meats - ham, Spam, etc.

Mayonnaise, jelly, ketchup, Fluff

Canned pasta (Spaghettio’s, etc.)

Canned vegetables - all kinds: corn, green beans, peas, etc.

Baby items: diapers (all sizes), formula, baby food, bottles and liners, infant & toddler
clothes

Food drop-off Monday - Friday, 9 am - 5 pm.
Quincy Crisis Center
282 Billings Road Wollaston

FAITH COVENANT FEEDING PROGRAM NEEDS: Please donate:

Bleach for sanitizing

Paper towels, napkins

Plasticware - forks, spoons, knives

Personal care items such as razors, shaving cream, toothpaste, and toothbrushes

New underwear and socks for men and women

Restaurants and church groups are encouraged to become a Meal-A-Month sponsor. This involves providing enough food (either pre-prepared or not) to serve 65-75 people one time a month. To arrange to make donations, please call 617-847-6967.

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