In 2021, Solomon Community Temple United Methodist Church joined Groundwork’s Milwaukee Grows Garden Network. Located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Solomon Community Temple is a valuable community resource in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood. Solomon Community Temple collaborates with Groundwork in two important ways: 1) the Temple’s in-house foody pantry, called the Helping Community Food Pantry, receives donations from Groundwork’s Shared Harvest food rescue programming, 2) the Temple’s community garden is now part of the Milwaukee Grows Garden Network.
Originally called The Helping Place, the pantry came to fruition in the early 1990’s when community members saw the need for food at no cost to local families. With support from Feeding America and Hunger Task Force, the pantry’s operators were able to serve dry goods, meats, eggs, milk and more.
In 2010 the pantry moved from St. James United Methodist Church on 24th and Keefe to its current location, and in 2017 they changed the name to the Helping Community Food Pantry. The pantry is run by dedicated volunteers like Billie, Dorothy, Dee and Katharine. Billie has been volunteering since 2009.
The food pantry opens its doors each Thursday and typically serves 15-30 pantry shoppers each week. The pantry aims to give out more than food. Solomon Community Temple sees the food pantry as just one part of their work in community building, uplifting folks and creating a sense of true belonging. The pantry currently offers free clothing, maintains a community garden, and is taking steps to be able to connect pantry shoppers to social services like housing and employment.
As Solomon Community Temple is only one mile south of the Maglio Farm, which serves as the central operating location of Groundwork’s Shared Harvest programming, the Helping Community Food Pantry was a natural partner to help Groundwork distribute the food we rescue to those who might benefit most from having it.
Furthermore, the garden is a critical piece the Temple’s larger mission. Named, the Belonging Place, the garden will be used not just to provide fresh produce to pantry shoppers, but to host community events, programs, outdoor worship, and more. Solomon Community Temple is partnering with UWM Community Design Solutions and MMSD in addition to Groundwork Milwaukee to develop green infrastructure in the garden.
Groundwork’s partnership with Solomon has helped install raised beds and a rainwater harvest structure. There are plans to make the space more ADA accessible. Donations are always welcome to assist with garden infrastructure like little lending libraries, benches, and bike racks.
A picture before (left) and after (right) Groundwork collaborated with Solomon Community Temple to build new raised beds in the Belonging Place Garden.
In the immediate future, Solomon volunteer, Billie, is working to create a fund to provide carts for pantry shoppers without transportation. Pantry boxes are often chock-full of food and heavy. These carts would help residents that travel by foot to safely and efficiently get their groceries home. The ministry for these carts would be named in tribute to Kelly Quarles, a pantry volunteer who passed away last year due to covid-19 complications. Solomon Community Temple is running a fundraising campaign to support this goal. You can read more about this fundraiser, including how to donate, here.