More Tales From The Soup Kitchens

Church of the Holy Spirit has a soup kitchen. Open Mondays and Fridays from 11am til 12:30. Again there rarely is soup. The “consumers” as most agency's now refer to us, are the same faces as 1st Baptist Church. The servers are different though.

There is the woman about my age at the next table with a tattoo of an Egyptian eye on her forehead.

A guy sits across from me. He's in his mid thirties and he has white supremacist prison tattoos. I am tempted to tell him he is sitting across from a Jewess but decide maybe I should keep quiet about that.

All the people from Towne House,the local clubhouse for the mentally ill, eat here on Fridays because the meal you get at Towne House costs a dollar and isn't as good. Many of the Towne House members walk by and say hi to me. We are the dysfunctional mentally ill family.

Ed is a lifelong resident of Fall River. A brilliant man who is trapped by his mental illness. He does a lot of advocacy for Towne House and NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill), and is an avid participant in the goings on at the club. Evidently he cannot pass a CORI check because of things he did when his illness was untreated. This makes his ability to be employed severely limited. I have heard that there are lawyers that can get that sort of thing expunged but it is out of reach financially for Ed. Ed has a bottle of hot sauce in his pocket everywhere he goes, and he always doctors the food at Towne House and the soup kitchens.

Frank is homeless and spends his days trash picking, and at Towne House. He is sometimes so filthy that his skin appears 3 shades darker than it actually is. He always carries around many bags full of bottles and other valuables he finds in the trash.Frank is schizophrenic and also a heroin addict. He was recently diagnosed with cancer that has metastasized everywhere. I wonder what is going to happen to him as his disease progresses.

There are also some women with children. I always feel very badly seeing children here. Do they think this is like going out to eat at a restaurant ?
I look back to my privileged childhood, and give thanks that this is not one of my memories of growing up.

At this soup kitchen, after you eat, they also let you take home donated bread. But you can't have the bread unless you eat the meal. Sometimes I sneak in and get bread without having dinner.

It's day old bread but who can really tell ? There are two large tables, On one end is white bread, hot dog and hamburger rolls. In the center is the whole wheat and multi grain breads. Some are just store brands and other are brands like Natures Promise which goes for $3.49 a loaf in the store. At the end are the artisan bread loaves. Focacia, Kalamata Olive, Roasted Garlic, Seeded Rye, Sourdough, Whole Wheat Raisin Pecan,Whole Wheat Cranberry Pecan, Something called a California Loaf that is a huge round, loaded with dried apricots,figs,golden and brown raisins. It makes a lovely breakfast toasted. Also lots of whole grain breads in various shapes.

Of course because this is Fall River, the white bread and hot dog buns disappear first. Usually nothing is left when the kitchen closes. Some people take sliced whole wheat or multi grain loaves. The older adults who are trying to eat better choose those.

The multi-grain loaves and artisan breads sit there. I don't feel guilty one bit, and fill two bags. No one even looks at it. They are squabbling over the white bread.

The cranberry pecan loaf has a price tag on it from Lee's Market in Westport. Lees is a fancy gourmet grocery that I cannot afford to shop at. The tag says $6.99.
I take all the bread home, slice the unsliced loaves and freeze everything. I'll have some nice sandwiches next week.