By Brett Hetherington*

Every Thursday and Saturday for three hours at Barberton Lakeview United Methodist Church (Canal District) a constant flow of people moves through the church building receiving aid for a variety of needs through the efforts of a dedicated group of church and community volunteers. This ecumenical outreach began a decade ago with a Wednesday night meal at the church. As the season changed to winter, hats and gloves were initially offered as gifts with each meal.

“People started asking if we had more clothing beyond hats and gloves, so we asked around for donations and before we knew it, we were stacked high with donations,” shared Cindy Bach.

Bach oversees what has come to be known as Common Threads Closet, a clothing closet that has grown to include a food pantry, a free clinic, partnerships with mental health organizations and the Barberton library, laundry assistance, and the continuing free hot meal. The ministry has grown beyond Barberton’s city limits to include serving people from approximately 20 different zip codes.

“We are an older congregation, so we mostly support the ministry and some volunteer. I am really happy to see just how embracing our congregation is!” shared Reverend Tina Nees, pastor of Barberton Lakeview UMC.

She and Bach are grateful that Common Threads Closet is a multi-church, ecumenical ministry because the needs of the community are great.

“We didn’t think we would need to be a non-profit at first because I thought things would improve when the economy improved. But we have a lot of generational poverty here in this area. Grandparents taking kids in, foster parents, homelessness. There are a lot of people who are struggling to make ends meet,” said Bach, a member of the Prince of Peace Catholic parish in Barberton. “You need people of all faiths. We have people from the Temple over in Bath, Grace Church, Saint Nick’s, the Apostolic Church, the Christian Church of Christ, and more. It is so funny to hear them sort clothes and talk about faith across the table and we have never had an issue. They all know when they walk in the door that all gets dropped.” Nees added that the Loads of Laundry program is run by a gentleman from the Knights of Columbus.

The free clinic is the newest addition to the outreach, having just started last month. It is staffed by a doctor and a nurse practitioner and, though new, has already had a big impact. “Programs exist that if you get a yearly physical, you can get food vouchers. We can do that here, and that can sometimes mean an extra $25 for them for food,” shared Bach. “We have purchased supplies for individuals. Our physician and nurse practitioner can write prescriptions and we are getting set up to have anabolics here onsite, so we don’t have to tell people to walk a mile over to the drug store to get a prescription filled.”

Partnerships with Portage Path and Red Oak have allowed Common Threads Closet to connect many individuals with help for mental health issues, and two new support groups will be launching in 2024 – one dealing with trauma and the other dealing with alcohol.

Food remains a central element of the outreach with the hot meal a staple for many who rely on Common Threads.

“The meal is completely free, and as much homemade as we can make it. A lot of the times when our folks are getting free meals it comes from a commissary or a quick fix meal setup. We want to make sure it is as nutritious as it can be,” shared Bach. “In Barberton there are lunches Monday through Friday and a dinner on Tuesday nights and that is about it for meals. St Augustine’s sends us some brown bag lunches and we try to send those with people who are staying outside because this might be the only meal they get until Monday morning at 11:30 a.m.”

Meals are prepared by a rotating group of volunteers from two churches in the area, and volunteers from Common Threads Closet. Occasionally an outside group will volunteer to prepare and serve a meal.

The food pantry is one of choice. Bach shared that there are other food pantries in town, but they give pre-packed bags of food that can sometimes be difficult to carry, especially when riding the bus and when carrying other items with them, such as clothes from the Common Threads Closet. “Choice also stops waste. The same mindset guides the hot lunch, they can choose what is put on their plate for them that they will actually eat.”

The Barberton Library visits once a month to spend time with the children, doing activities, reading with them, and helping to keep them entertained while their parents shop in the store. They also bring free books for the children to take home. “I like making the kids happy. They usually take a lot of the books we bring with us,” said Lisa, a volunteer from the library.

The centerpiece of Common Threads Closet is the store itself, a place where people can “shop” for anything from clothing to housewares to jewelry. Laurie, a volunteer who was sorting bedding, shared about a time when a mother was looking for a specific item for her daughter, and when Laurie went into another room to search in an area where it would not normally be found, discovered exactly what the mother was looking for. “Clients come in and they need something, and we start digging around and we find exactly what they need. And you know it’s not by chance.”

As with the food pantry, the store is run entirely on the model of choice. Individuals can choose what they want to purchase, rather than be handed a pre-determined outfit or collection of items. “We want to do everything in our power to enable our folks and give them dignity,” said Bach.

Over the past decade all of this has been done without a single fundraiser. “We ask people who shop with us to give us $6 a year and 85% (of them) pay. We don’t care if it is a nickel at a time. What’s really crazy about it is we have donors who will just walk in with checks!” shared Bach. She also noted that they have been able to teach three other similar outreach ministries how they run in order to raise such a model in their own communities and are happy to share with more.

Recently Common Threads Closet received the 2023 Game Changer Award from the Barberton Community Foundation, recognizing its work in the community.

Learn more about the Game Changer Award.

The Conference Communications team would like to share other stories that highlight ways that each of us is answering the call of Bishop Tracy S. Malone to reach out to our communities in creative ways. Please e-mail your ministry story to EOC Executive Director of Communications Rick Wolcott at wolcott@eocumc.com.

* Brett Hetherington is the Communications specialist for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.