When you’re homeless, the most important part of your day is finding something to eat and somewhere to sleep. There are numerous local shelters that someone without a home can visit for a hot meal and warm bed, and most likely Maggie Nowland will be at one of them.
After a mission trip to India, Maggie had come to the realization that she didn’t have to go around the world to help people. she decided to share her talents that she’d garnered after 25 years in the hospitality industry with the impoverished people in her city. “I connected with a church that had been serving at The Open shelter and the Friends of the Homeless every Tuesday night,” she recalls. “Their faithfulness to the poor inspired me.” she joined their efforts and began making soup and cookies for about 400 men at the two shelters. After about a year, she began to pick up the same schedule on Thursday nights with her husband and some friends
from the church, ultimately gaining a 501c3 organizational status. They coined their new organization Mercy Project.
After months of serving the men with Mercy Project, Maggie discovered that the local women’s shelters we badly under resourced. she made the decision to start helping Rebecca’s House in January of 2001, and has been there every Thursday since. “When we go to Rebecca’s House,” she adds, “our goal is to create a little place … that reminds the women of home during one of the most difficult times in their lives.” Maggie treasures the fact that she makes more than just meals there; she also makes friendships.
Maggie’s other efforts for the less fortunate include: Special holiday parties, a massive school supply drive, hosting summer camps, developing a food pantry, and funeral services for the homeless community. ▪