Amos House
Good food and good works nourish body and soul
By David Rocheleau
Photos by Stephanie Alvarez Ewens

Amos House has come a long way from its humble beginnings. In 1976, Sister Eileen Murphy, a Catholic nun with the Sisters of Mercy, began serving dinner to 30 homeless men at a three-story tenement house in South Providence. Named after the Old Testament prophet who stood for social justice, Amos House soon started providing free lunches to 100 hungry people a day, seating 32 at a time.

To support the growing soup kitchen, Sister Eileen teamed up with eight other groups to form the Fund for Community Progress, which raised money through payroll deduction programs. In 1983, her vision of a cathedral for the poor was realized with the building of Amos House’s dining hall at 415 Friendship St., right around the corner from the small soup kitchen.

In response to a growing homeless population spurred by a national recession and welfare cuts, a property on Somerset Street was transformed into a shelter for homeless men, followed by other transitional residences with substance abuse counseling for residents and guests.

Eileen Hayes, the current president and CEO, fell in love with the Amos House just as soon as she got there nine years ago. The Amos House soup kitchen now serves 200 to 300 meals per day—and sometimes as many as 400 towards the end of the month when food stamps and other government assistance begins to run out.

Chef John Nelson, who manages the soup kitchen at Amos House, knows firsthand the struggles of poverty and addiction, but also the fulfillment of recovery and giving back. Formerly an alcoholic and homeless, today he is executive chef at the Amos House Dining Hall.

Chef John first came to Amos House because he was hungry, having lost everything to alcoholism. Sister Eileen took him under her wing “like a mother,” John said. “I’ll always remember the words she said to me: ‘If you keep it up, you’re going to die.’”

John started by helping out in the dining room 28 years ago. He’d had a little experience cooking when he was younger; he turned his life around, went back to college and earned a culinary degree from Johnson &Wales in 1991. After becoming the chef of the soup kitchen, he holds himself up as an example to others.

“I try to help people in their lives. If I can do what I did with my life, then anyone can do the same. This job is very rewarding, and it works both ways. I’m grateful.”

Under Hayes’s leadership Amos House launched the Amos Culinary Education (ACE), a culinary arts training program that helps poor and unskilled individuals, and those at risk of homelessness, to secure the skills they need to become more stable and self-reliant.

Thinking that it would be helpful to create a business that could put the ACE graduates to work, the first social enterprise, Amos House Works, began in 2004. The goal was to hire people and establish a sustainable revenue stream. Currently there are 15 to 20 positions at any given time but some of those jobs are “stepping stone” positions, where the ACE graduates work for six months to a year to gain skills and build a resume in a supportive environment. Then they can feel confident finding permanent employment elsewhere.

The catering division, More Than A Meal, operates out of Crossroads Rhode Island in Providence; the Amos House graduates and employees provide an evening meal to the Crossroads residents in exchange for use of the kitchen. More Than A Meal also prepares high-quality food for business meetings, events and private functions. The institutional division prepares tasty and healthy meals for school lunch programs and summer camps.

While it’s not surprising that communities are suffering from food insecurity during tough economic times, it may be shocking to learn how much edible food goes to waste in the United States—more than 96 billion pounds each year, according to estimates from the USDA.  Clearly, food recovery must become an important component of any effort to combat hunger, and relief organizations such as the Amos House play a key role in the redistribution of food resources.

For Lynn Williams of Seven Stars Bakery, donating leftover product to the Amos House was a no-brainer. “It is very little work for us,” says Lynn. “We simply bag and box all the leftovers after service, and a driver from Amos House picks them up the next morning. We don’t always have much left over,” she continues, “but some days it seems we could fill a whole dumpster!”

But can’t businesses that donate excess food to nonprofits be held liable in the event of an outbreak of food-borne illness? Thankfully, no.  In 1996, President Clinton signed an act to encourage donation of food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations for distribution to individuals in need.

This federal law, called the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, protects businesses from liability should the product cause harm to the recipient. Gross neglect or intentional tampering with food are obviously not covered. Nevertheless bakeries, restaurants, universities and other businesses have ample opportunities for contributing to food recovery efforts.

Certified food service operators wishing to donate surplus edible foods to the Amos House can call the main number to arrange for a pickup, or they can simply arrange to drop them off behind the soup kitchen on Friendship Street. Unfortunately, for safety reasons, the Amos House can’t accept prepared foods from individuals.

Individuals can, however, collect and donate personal care items or shelf-stable, nonperishable foods (canned goods, dry goods and so forth). “We have schools that do food drives,” says Eileen. “Wheeler School and La Salle Academy, to name two. There is actually a list on our website detailing all the items we need.” Approximately 500 volunteers also work at the soup kitchen annually.

Though Chef John purchases most of what is needed for the soup kitchen, he does value the assistance that comes from the business community.  He gets leftovers from the Rhode Island Convention Center and from Fine Catering by Russell Morin; pizza strips and bread from LaSalle Bakery; and pastries from Seven Stars, Honey Dew Donuts and Starbucks. They’ve also recently received “a ton” of food from Ocean State Job Lot, including canned goods, pasta and—most importantly— 38 cases of coffee. “If we can’t put coffee out in the morning, forget it!” he laughs.

The people who come to Amos House for food are also grateful. Mark, who is a lunch regular, believes that nourishment is important.  “You really can’t operate or think clearly if you’re constantly on an empty stomach,” he says.

Mark came from a good family but started to abuse drugs until they took over his life and he lost everything. He ended up homeless and living in shelters. “You have to be healthy, and places like the Amos House really help. The food is good and it gives me the energy to take care of myself and do the things I have to do. They really do everything they can to help the people help themselves. I never have to worry about going hungry.”

“That’s how we believe everybody should be treated,” Eileen stresses. “Everybody has the capacity to excel if they’re given the opportunity. It’s basic; it’s simple.” eR

David Rocheleau is a chef-educator, freelance writer and a culinary arts graduate of Johnson & Wales University. He currently works for the Feinstein Community Service Center at the University.

Amos House
415 Friendship St.
P.O. Box 72873
Providence, RI 02907
401-272-0220 • www.amoshouse.com