Local Churches Provide Food, Community & Resources to People Struggling with Addiction

Thanks to PHI’s Communities Rise and Urban League of Metropolitan Saint Louis Inc., Grill to Glory is able to provide resources to support individuals struggling with addiction.

Using the innovative Opioid Triage model, neighborhood churches located in or close to “open-air” drug markets were invited to erect resource hubs for several hours to assist individuals struggling with addiction. Deacon Watson, of Leonard Baptist Church, set up the triages on Saturday mornings from 11am–1pm, and at the core of these weekly efforts are a grill and delicious hot dogs.

After the first month, Deacon Watson reported that the neighborhood residents were elated with the meetings, and shared that each week those coming for fellowship grew. In the one-month timespan, participants grew from 30 to 50, to 75 and beyond. Pastors were impressed with the testimony and were excited to implement the effort. These meetings came to be known as Grill to Glory.

In the first year, 22 churches participated, and in year two, 65 churches fired up their grills and hosted brief cook-outs for neighborhood residents. In 2022, the number of participating churches has grown to 208 churches in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and 37 churches in Kansas City, MO., with a strong interest in Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, Indianapolis, Seattle, and Atlanta.

The vision of Grill to Glory is to restore the neighborhood church to a firm leadership and resource position in urban neighborhoods, with a goal to deliver valuable resources to families in need. Grill to Glory’s presence in neighborhoods has led to a reduction in crime and violence.

Watch local news clips covering Grill to Glory’s work:

Communities RISE Together supports COVID vaccination efforts in African-American, Asian-American/Pacific-Islander, Latinx, Native-American, rural, immigrant/migrant and low-income, older adult populations. Communities RISE Together works on the ground in more than 220 counties in 27 states in communities with low vaccination rates by calling on the capacity of 2,400 community-based organizations who have reached over 100 million people across the nation. The initiative is a collaboration between WE in the World, the Well Being in the Nation (WIN) Network and Public Health Institute.

A version of this impact story first appeared in a Communities RISE newsletter.