Loaves & Fishes offers a sanctuary of support

The Loaves & Fishes Ministry of Macon has been offering support to Middle Georgia’s underserved communities and at-risk residents for nearly 60 years. The organization opens its doors to anyone in need, offering a wide variety of services — including hot meals, birth certificate and ID retrieval, showers and laundry care, prescription assistance and more.

Founded from the merger of two groups in 1967, the ministry doesn’t “turn anybody away,” Executive Director Janet Wright said.

As part of a new series on nonprofit organizations making major contributions to the quality of life in Macon-Bibb County, The Macon Melody spoke with Wright about Loaves & Fishes — and what keeps the organization serving its neighbors. Her comments have been lightly edited for pacing and clarity.

Who does the ministry help?

We care for a lot of people … a lot of people know us by our name, we know a lot of people by name. We get to know the people who we serve on a first-name basis so that they are comfortable with coming to us and seeking that help they need and calling if they can’t physically be here.

What services does the ministry provide?

We do birth certificates and ID from this office … whether they’re homeless, unsheltered, low-income, you’d be surprised how many people don’t have a birth certificate or an ID.

Breakfast is served here, lunch as well [on Tuesday] … we’ll do laundry on Thursday, so we’ll take small bags of clothes people could drop off. The ministry also puts together grocery bags for families that need it.

What are some ways you are looking to expand?

We would really like to hire a full-time case manager. A lot of people need additional help — they need help with housing, they need help or assistance with jobs or education, but we don’t have the funds to bring on a full-time case manager.

The front area, [we want] to put as a workshop area, more workstations so people can come in, they can look for jobs, they can do their [state support services] paperwork online, order their Social Security cards online. There’s so many things now that’s digital that they, on the outside, don’t have access to.

What keeps you doing this kind of work?

The people need it. We don’t get rich doing this, but we show up every day with that in our hearts — that somebody needs help — and we just show up to make sure that people are fed, they can get the services they need, they can get a smile, a hug, sometimes a conversation.

You never know what someone’s going through in life, and just that moment, that eight minutes, can change their projection of how they came to us. It will redirect their thought patterns, we may have saved someone’s life.

Getting up each morning, sometimes I sit at the edge of the bed and ask myself, but I just hear the Lord saying, ‘somebody needs you today.’”

How can people get involved?

We do get volunteers that come in and help us. I think we got doctors that come here and volunteer and bag up groceries. We just have a ball here, like people come and they just enjoy themselves. It’s about helping others.

The Loaves & Fishes Ministry of Macon is sponsoring a series of fundraisers, all based around pickleball, throughout the rest of April as well as an April 30 event celebrating supporters and friends. That event is from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre. Learn more about the organization at loavesandfishesministry.orgor on their Facebook page.