Bread Of Life Ministries celebrating 27 years of providing food, shelter and spiritual support to people across Cumberland County and the surrounding region.
Board of Directors President Larry Doster said the ministry began on Fourth Street in Crossville with a small church and a house used for offices and storage. Doster said what started as a vision to respond to community needs has grown considerably over nearly three decades.
“Whether or not they were just beaten down into a point in their life where they had almost lost complete hope,” Doster said, “I could tell you story after story of successes with people who have come there, stayed there, gotten the help they need.”
Doster said the ministry now operates multiple buildings, including a halfway house for men working full-time and a dedicated house for military veterans. Its main facility includes a commercial kitchen, walk-in freezers and dormitories capable of housing up to 85 people.
“The need for people to be fed is a constant issue that we deal with and we actually feed at the Bread of Life three meals a day, seven days a week,” Doster said. “No one is ever turned away that needs a meal. And we’ll feed anywhere from 100, 125 to 200 people a day.”
Bread Of Life also operates a thrift store where families in need can receive furniture, clothing and household items at no cost. Doster said the ministry’s work has evolved as the challenges facing those seeking assistance have become increasingly complex.
“We deal with so many people who are in a state of mind where you can just tell they really need hope,” Doster said. “They need something and we can’t be the answer to everything. It takes an entire community, it takes an entire state of Tennessee to try to help these people and so we see an increase of people that are needing help because they’re addicted to something, they have some sort of mental issues and or they have had a lifestyle at one time that we would sort of call mainstream America where they were working, they had a job, they had a home, they had a family and they’ve lost that for one reason or another and they just don’t know where to go and what to do.”
Doster said rising costs for necessities such as food, transportation and insurance have also contributed to more working families seeking assistance. Bread Of Life relies on donors from Crossville and surrounding communities to support its operations.
“It does not cost you a penny to stay at the Bread of Life,” Doster said. “You get your meals, a place to sleep, you get spiritual information to help you grow in that way and we just want you to be successful and we’ve got a handful of people right now that sometime within the next 30 to 60 days are going to finish their time at the Bread of Life.”
Doster said the ministry works with residents toward employment, greater stability and, when possible, reconnecting with their families.
