Articles

Noted TV chef prepares holiday dinner
for transitioning homeless families

Faith And The City e.Newsletter
January 9, 2006

Five formerly homeless moms relaxed with their children one December evening and enjoyed gourmet cuisine prepared by Marvin Woods, cookbook author, TV cook show host, and head chef at Spice Restaurant, one of Midtown Atlanta’s trendiest eateries. The five families, working with Cascade United Methodist Church, are in the process of transitioning from shelters for the homeless to homes of their own as part of the Faith And The City Mentor A Family Program.

Woods, executive chef at Spice Restaurant, personally manned the stove and wielded the cooking utensils for the dinner at Cascade UMC, which hosted the event and mentors the families. Woods also found time to visit with each of the families and even offer hands-on experience and professional pointers to guest Michael Mathis, a high school student who plans to become a chef.

The Mentor A Family Program, endorsed by the Regional Commission on Homelessness, works closely with the metro area’s faith and civic communities to match working homeless families with congregations and other organizations that provide the families with a supportive relationship for six months or longer.

“We help working families get off the streets, out of shelters, and into stable housing,” explained Margie Shannon Telfair, Mentor A Family Program manager. “For a family to qualify for the program, the head of household must be working and identify an affordable apartment or house.” During the past five years, according to Telfair, the program has assisted more than 800 people, over 70 percent of them children.

Cascade UMC is one of more than 90 metro area congregations, civic groups, and other organizations of various sizes that have worked this year with Mentor A Family. “We have a firm commitment to serve beyond the four walls of our church,” said Allene McCollum, outreach director for Cascade. “That’s what Christ did.” She added that the 7000-member southwest Atlanta congregation, pastored by Rev. Marvin A. Moss, assists dozens of needy families in addition to the five through Mentor A Family, serves nearly 3,000 meals each month to homeless people, builds Habitat for Humanity homes, and operates a broad range of other community service initiatives.

Woods, who donated the food as well as the culinary expertise for the holiday dinner, says the idea for the event emerged from his conversations with Telfair and her husband Bill, who have become regular customers at Spice. Woods said he sees no reason to limit such collaborations to the holidays. “I believe in giving back; it’s part of who I am,” he explained. “Nobody should be homeless and nobody should be hungry.”

Mentor A Family is one of several programs operated by Faith And The City, a private, Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that encourages a sense of community throughout the 20-county Atlanta metropolitan region, elevates the moral dimensions of critical issues, and encourages people of all faiths to engage in the public dialogue. Faith And The City also helps to develop informed public religious leadership through partnerships with local seminaries.