MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always) is a community of unhoused and unstably housed people who gather together for belonging, mutual care, and worship. Rather than offering one-directional service, the ministry centers radical welcome and shared ownership: members check in with each other, eat together, write together, and hold space for whoever walks through the door on a given day. The community meets three times a week—a community meeting before Sunday worship, a Monday lunch, and a Tuesday writers’ group—and participants describe it as a place of comfort, dignity, and respect that’s hard to find elsewhere.
The video also describes how the pandemic reshaped the community. As one of the few places in the area that stayed open with a working bathroom and a hot meal, MANNA saw a large influx of new members, including many Latinx folks disproportionately affected by COVID-related job loss and housing instability. Recognizing they lacked the language and cultural capacity to fully embrace these newcomers, the ministry applied for a grant to hire a bilingual, bicultural intern who could help integrate Hispanic community members into worship through music, liturgy, and food from a shared faith perspective. Members speak of MANNA as a place where they’ve witnessed real love, mutual support, and even glimpses of God’s kingdom in action.
