A soup kitchen in downtown Abilene is doing more than just serving up hot meals -- through fellowship, food and strong shoulders to lean on, it's giving many people a new lease on life.
For more than ten years, Abilene's City Light Community Ministries has been handing out food to the less fortunate, but for almost every single person there -- many of them regulars -- it's much more than just a place to grab a bite.
It has become their safe haven.
With a flute playing during lunch and prayers throughout, more than a hundred people sit down for a meal every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Karen Colwell said she is in the toughest stretch of her life. She lost her job working with mentally ill patients a year ago.
She has since been living at the Salvation Army with her two young children -- and coming to City Light for meals three times a week.
She said the time she spends there is her family's savior in these uncertain times.
"When you don't have your own home to network out of, you can't have stuff and carry things around," Colwell said. "They've helped me."
Colwell said it's crucial to have someone rooting for you when you're down on your luck -- and that is exactly what the volunteers of City Light dish out alongside the food.
They know everyone by name --- and that is not anywhere near where the support stops.
Volunteers visit the patrons in the hospital when they are sick, celebrate milestones alongside them, and come together in prayer for every curve ball life throws their way.
"It gives you hope because you're not the only one going through it," Colwell said. "You have others here and it is really helping them so you know you're not the only one going through it."
As for the food -- one patron told us the reason it tastes so good is because it's made with love.
The Ministry, on 336 Hickory Street, serves lunch every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The line is usually wrapped around the building with people waiting to get a meal, and some company.
For more than ten years, Abilene's City Light Community Ministries has been handing out food to the less fortunate, but for almost every single person there -- many of them regulars -- it's much more than just a place to grab a bite.
It has become their safe haven.
With a flute playing during lunch and prayers throughout, more than a hundred people sit down for a meal every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Karen Colwell said she is in the toughest stretch of her life. She lost her job working with mentally ill patients a year ago.
She has since been living at the Salvation Army with her two young children -- and coming to City Light for meals three times a week.
She said the time she spends there is her family's savior in these uncertain times.
"When you don't have your own home to network out of, you can't have stuff and carry things around," Colwell said. "They've helped me."
Colwell said it's crucial to have someone rooting for you when you're down on your luck -- and that is exactly what the volunteers of City Light dish out alongside the food.
They know everyone by name --- and that is not anywhere near where the support stops.
Volunteers visit the patrons in the hospital when they are sick, celebrate milestones alongside them, and come together in prayer for every curve ball life throws their way.
"It gives you hope because you're not the only one going through it," Colwell said. "You have others here and it is really helping them so you know you're not the only one going through it."
As for the food -- one patron told us the reason it tastes so good is because it's made with love.
The Ministry, on 336 Hickory Street, serves lunch every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The line is usually wrapped around the building with people waiting to get a meal, and some company.
