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OUR MINISTRIES

We Welcome Everyone

How We Serve in Cincinnati

Far too many people are slipping through the cracks in Cincinnati. 1 in 7 residents are at risk of hunger. Additionally, Cincinnati ranks as the fifth loneliest city in the United States, with 46.2% of residents living alone.

FOCUS Cincinnati will respond to this calling by providing both physical sustenance for our neighbors in need (in the form of hot meals and pantry items) as bringing people together in community around a shared table.

  • FOCUS Cincinnati will begin by offering two monthly meals at two locations: Christ the Savior-Holy Spirit Orthodox Church and Holy Trinity-Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church. Both meals will be prepared in Holy Trinity-Saint Nicholas’ commercial kitchen.
  • FOCUS Cincinnati will also begin by operating two food pantries, one at each parish. This will allow guests who visit for a meal to leave with additional food, and will also operate at other points during the month

What We Are and What We Are Not

Traditional soup kitchens separate volunteers from guests and focus on the mere gifting of food. FOCUS Cincinnati, by contrast, will invite volunteers and guests to a shared table where fellowship and community can grow around a shared meal.

  • FOCUS Cincinnati hopes to do more than feed people physically, but also spiritually and emotionally through the community that can develop around shared meals.
  • As Orthodox Christians, we are called to find Christ in the breaking of the bread (the shared Eucharistic meal). Yet we are also called to participate in “the liturgy after the liturgy,” when we are sent into the world to serve in the Lord’s name. As we use food to build fellowship, we can encounter Christ in the community that emerges when strangers gather to eat together and serve each other.

Our Hopes for the Future

As a new Center, our short-term goals are modest. But we hope to continue to expand our service in the months and years ahead as we develop our capacity to meet the needs of our neighbors in Cincinnati.

  • As our team grows and refines its process, we can explore possible additions to the programs of FOCUS Cincinnati (for example, a mobile strategy to reach homebound and isolated neighbors).
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FOCUS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, FEIN: 26-4427803

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