Description
OUR PROGRAMS
The Thomas Merton House of Hospitality provides breakfast, lunch and day shelter to approximately 210 people each day Monday through Saturday. We serve about 85,000 meals a year. We also provide the following other services:
Support Groups - a safe, non-judgmental place for individuals to address the issues in their lives that may be barriers to self-sufficiency (i.e. abusive relationships, addiction problems, etc.).
Creative Groups - provide an opportunity for Merton guests to express themselves through writing and art.
Case Management - provides individual support for approximately 60 guests a month. We help them with budgeting, paying rent and teaching the value of saving money. We also help them obtain and manage state and federal benefits and connect with other social services.
Mail - We allow our guests to use the Center as their mailing address if they need a secure location to receive their mail.
Showers - Our guests are free to take showers every Monday and Thursday at the Center.
St. Stephen’s Food Pantry provides groceries for 5 days of nutritious meals per month for families and individuals living in the 06604, 06605, and 06606 zip codes in Bridgeport. We serve over 500 families per month and operate in collaboration with ABCD, Inc. The emphasis of the pantry is providing healthy food to our guests, as currently 50% of the food we distribute is quality food rescued from local grocery stores; mostly fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy prepared foods that would have been thrown out due to a short shelf life, but are perfectly safe and OK to eat.
