Mission:

The mission of Food and Shelter is very simple.  We feed those who are hungry and wrap our arms around the lost and alone, helping them find their way back home. We believe no person can overcome life's most difficult obstacles if they are hungry and worried constantly about where they will sleep.  The services we provide are the most basic needs of a human being; food and shelter.  Women, children and men come for food and shelter.  They leave with friends, a support system, and acceptance.  They find home.

About Us:

In 1983, these are the things that inspired our founders to find a solution to homelessness and hunger.  Food and Shelter started as a once-per-week lunch for people who were homeless and has since grown to be a fully operational soup kitchen and shelter program.

For over 30 years, Food and Shelter has been feeding women, children and men who are hungry and housing families in crisis.  Food and Shelter are core components of our services and something we believe to be basic human rights of every individual in our community.  We serve the most indigent residents of our community many of which live on little to no income.

Our food program, funded by United Way of Norman, is second to none in Cleveland County.  Hundreds of women, children and men rely on Food and Shelter for their daily nutrition.  We serve breakfast and lunch 7 days per week to any person who is hungry.  On average we serve 250 meals per day.  In 2014 alone, we served over 90,000 meals.  On top of this, we provide food baskets to hungry families who may have to choose between buying food and paying rent.  Food is a necessity, not a privilege.  

The shelter component of Food and Shelter is a multi-faceted program.  We provide short term, long-term and supportive housing for individuals and families who are homeless.  We own and operate a transitional housing program where families with children can live for up to 2 years with the care and support of a case manager to empower and encourage them to build stronger, healthier families.  We provide housing for medically vulnerable, chronically homeless single individuals with the support of a case manager to ensure they maintain stable, healthy lifestyles.  Because we do not have facilities for emergency shelter, we provide families who are homeless emergency placement through motel stays.  Our prevention program is a new and unique strategy in tackling homelessness.  By avoiding homelessness, we save our community money and reduce the trauma moms, dads and children experience with homelessness.

None of our programs are stand-alone programs.  We have an new initiative called START, partially funded by United Way of Norman, which stands for skills, training and resources for tomorrow.  We invest time, energy and resources helping women and men who are homeless with job skills, life skills, financial management skills and more.  This program complements all of our other programs and is a key aspect of the amazing success we have with our residents and guests.