Cleveland churches are stepping up to provide emergency hot meals to those in need after a funding freeze from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Hunger Network, a nonprofit that coordinates food distribution across the city, lost its expected funding from FEMA, leaving churches to fill the gap.

Local Impact

Trinity Cathedral, which has served a hot meal every Sunday since 1983, is one of the churches affected by the funding freeze. Eric Travis, who leads the hot meal program, said the church has enough in reserves to continue serving meals for now, but is being careful with portion sizes and grocery purchases.

Other churches, such as Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, are scaling back their meal programs due to the lack of funding. Linda Boyd, a trustee and hot meal leader at Mount Olive, said the church is cutting back from five meals a month to one.

Community Response

Church and nonprofit leaders are concerned about the impact of the funding freeze on Cleveland’s vulnerable residents, who rely on hot meal sites for food. Many churches are dipping into their own reserves or relying on donations to keep their meal programs going.

The Salvation Army and Catholic Charities are still offering hot meals throughout the city, and churches can partner with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to access free and reduced-price groceries.

Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.