In winter 1985, a starving woman sheltered in the horse stalls at La Plata County Fairgrounds scrawled on the wall, “Nobody cares.”
Upon discovery of the woman's death, according to Manna soup kitchen, a group of Christians organized food distributions at churches around town and began feeding people in need. Manna was founded as a result in May 1985, although a building for the organization would not be erected until 16 years later in 2001.
That’s Manna’s origin story, said Ann Morse, former executive director of the community kitchen and resource center for seven years.
Morse resigned from her position at the community kitchen in December. She said her father is in poor health and she is going to help take care of him. She is under contract with Manna to facilitate a transition until March when she plans to move to Southern California to be closer to her aging parents.
In her stead, Co-Executive Directors Marissa Hunt and Chris Andrews have risen to the occasion. She said she is leaving Manna in capable and caring hands.
Care has been a central theme of Manna throughout its history. For the first two decades after its founding, it operated as a traditional soup kitchen for people experiencing homelessness.
Manna offered limited services back then. Its doors opened at 7:45 a.m. and people lined up to eat and warm themselves. Morse said volunteers would set up plastic tables and chairs and serve food to those who asked for it.
There were showers and restrooms and basic transportation services to get people to and from the soup kitchen. But she said it was nothing like what Manna offers now.
Manna presently offers a range of services for the unhoused and housed. According to its website, hand warmers, beanies, gloves, socks, ponchos, can openers and emergency blankets are available at the front desk, depending on availability.
People can pick up their mail at Manna, using Manna’s mailing address as their own. The soup kitchen provides thrift store vouchers, offers a monthly laundry service and accepts donations for a community closet that provides clothing, shoes, bedding and other used items.
On a limited basis, Manna offers bus passes, bus tokens and gas vouchers. It even has an on-site business center equipped with two computers and a telephone for free use by anybody, as long as internet searches and phone calls remain “family friendly,” the website says.
The need for those additional services was illuminated by the arrival of COVID-19 in late 2019, Morse said. Although she more specifically credits the Durango community for speaking out about what Manna was missing.
As the pandemic set in, the Durango community helped Morse and Manna staff and volunteers realize many things. Firstly, the pandemic drove up food insecurity. When the community turned to Manna for help, she realized how stigmatic Manna was.
Residents viewed Manna’s services as being reserved strictly for people experiencing homelessness. Residents didn’t think they were welcome there, she said.
“It worked so great for so many years, but as the needs of the community change, we needed to change. And COVID really was monumental with telling us that,” she said.
And with the backing of residents, change it did, she said.
She added, “There (were) a lot of bumps in the road, but the community working together really just pulled it through.”
Joel Berdie, a social worker in Durango, said he appreciated Morse’s openness to new ideas from people such as himself from outside of the Manna organization.
“I really felt just like welcomed and not judged, and empowered and always struck by her kindness that she extended toward me,” he said.
Hunt said she is planning for a slow and steady forward course, continuing to provide regular services at Manna for the foreseeable future as Morse continues to help with the transition.
Hunt said she fell in love with Manna after she started volunteering at the soup kitchen in 2017. She took a formal job with Manna in 2019. She described Morse as a “kind, compassionate and smart, savvy leader” and a “visionary.”
Working at Manna has changed her as a person, she said. She has become more compassionate and understanding and she takes pride in advocating for the well-being of other people.
“I never could have expected the way Manna would impact my life and become such a huge part of my journey,” she said. “I’ve learned so much, not only from the people I work with, but also the people that I’ve been able to work alongside with in helping launch this resource center.”
Manna serves between 3,500 and 4,000 people annually. On a busy day, its resource center can have as many as 150 visitors, Hunt said.
“The need is there,” she said.
The trust and community relationships Manna staff members have built with the Durango community is proof of the positive impact the soup kitchen and resource center have had over the years, she said.
Andrews said Manna has proved flexible in meeting the community’s needs. It has developed partnerships with La Plata Youth Services, a nonprofit that serves young people facing challenges in school, court and at home; the Durango Parole Office; and, WAGEES, a Colorado Department of Corrections work and employment education grant program.
Speaking from experience, Andrews said Manna is a huge community asset because it hosts a variety of services at one location. When he was unhoused and living in Denver, it was hard to tap into great resources around the city because they weren’t centralized.
“Trying to navigate that with where you’re going to sleep that night, how you’re going to pay your bills, get bills, get gas for the car, whatever that looks like, can take a lot of time,” he said. “… If you’re coming out of homelessness and trying to address all these different needs, that can be extremely overwhelming.”
He said Morse’s compassion and attention to detail is inspiring. As someone who has experienced homelessness and battled addiction, he found his calling at Manna because it enables him to help people who have experienced similar hardships as he has. Morse helped him identify his strengths
“I know that there’s nothing in my life ... that would have been the way it is without the leadership that Ann has provided here,” he said.
He said Morse will be sorely missed. But he is confident he and Hunt can continue the services that set Manna aside from traditional soup kitchens.
cburney@durangoherald.com
