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Ministry for Homeless Needs New Housing
A ministry that helps feed the homeless in downtown Raleigh is now facing a big obstacle.
Posted — UpdatedRALEIGH, N.C. — For years, Mary Judd has helped the homeless in downtown Raleigh by offering them a hot meal and a kind word.
As she does almost every morning, Judd and her helpers lug pots and pans brimming with breakfast from her house to a church a few blocks away.
Judd says it is something she's called to do.
"Somebody needs me, and I can't stop," she says.
But over the years, her ministry, God's Helpers of Raleigh, has been confronted with obstacles.
Judd used to feed the homeless from her front porch in Raleigh, but the city said she was violating a zoning ordinance and shut her down.
Most recently, she says, the church kitchen is too small for storing and cooking food and she is in need of a new building.
"I'll be 69 years old next month," she says. "And it's a struggle."
There is a potential location for the ministry to relocate, but the price is $165,000.
The city has encouraged Judd and her ministry to apply for money set aside to help nonprofit organizations, although the city acknowledges that money is tight.
Judd said she and the ministry plan to apply soon.
For more information about God's Helpers of Raleigh or to make a donation, write to God's Helpers of Raleigh, PO Box 28182, Raleigh, N.C. 27611 or call 919-538-2106.
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