Chastity Pharr, left, with Abba’s House, prays with Ron Johnson on Friday, May 8, 2015, at the National Guard Armory during Project Homeless Connect in Chattanooga, Tenn. Assistance programs from across the region were on hand to offer help with services and donated goods to those who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.
David CookConstruction begins soon to rebuild and widen the 2.3-mile stretch of U.S. 27 through downtown, from the Olgiati Bridge to Interstate 24.
It also means that soon – or maybe it’s happening now – all the homeless men and women living in that area will be displaced. By some counts, it’s upwards of 25 people.
“Where will they go?” asked the Rev. Barry Kidwell.
Odds are, they’ll go to him. Kidwell – a Methodist minister who wears blue jeans when he preaches and is easily one of the finest men I know – runs Mustard Tree Ministries, and for the last 20-some years, has been ministering to our local homeless.
What began with sock distribution in the winter has now reached a seven-day-a-week ministry. Each Wednesday, Kidwell serves 100 or more hot soup lunches at Miller Park. The other six days, he’s visiting camps, helping folks navigate the paper trail for lost ID cards, bringing firewood, securing job applications, sending folks to rehab facilities across the U.S., leading worship services and loving them.