Morning Star Ministries

MorningStar Mission Ministries, Inc. is a non-denominational organization dedicated to relieving the spiritual and physical hunger of the poor, which aligns with the Christian values of the Smith Family Foundation's Christian values. We do this by providing food for the hungry, clothing for the needy, and shelter for the homeless. MorningStar Mission began as an emergency shelter for men and a soup kitchen. Since then, MorningStar Mission has expanded to offer a recovery program for men, a women and family shelter, a food pantry, thrift stores, counseling, transitional housing, a food pantry, and more. Today, MorningStar Mission continues our mission by helping people through numerous programs and services that provide food, clothing, shelter, and support for men, women, and children in need. Following our founder’s tradition of ministering to the whole person – serving physical needs first, followed by spiritual guidance – MorningStar Mission continues to help all who are in need. We aim to help people in need by getting to the core issues of what has caused their homelessness, whether the problem stems from alcohol, drugs, mental health, or family matters.

MorningStar Mission fits with the Smith Family Foundation's mission when we provide food, clothing, and shelter for the children, women, and men in distress, with part of the children we serve being orpans and part of the women and men we serve bieng widows. MorningStar's Mary L. Weitendorf Women & Family Center provides housing for women with children, families, and fathers with children and also houses the Reclaim Youth Support Ministry, which provides adolescent women and men who are 16 years or older and facing homelessness or undesirable living arrangements with a safe, healthy residence while enrolled in high school. MorningStar Mission also operates single family homes in the community to provide permanent supportive housing for graduates of the Women & Family Center.

MorningStar Mission respectfully requests a contribution from the Smith Family Foundation to help support the operating costs of our services and help us serve more men, women, and children in need. MorningStar Mission is dedicated to providing food for the hungry, clothing for the needy, and shelter for the homeless. However, there are more people seeking our support than we can currently serve. It typically costs $523 per person to help participants get back on their feet, overcome the challenges that have negatively impacted their lives, and become self-sufficient and productive members of the community. With the increased number of individuals needing support, our goal is to raise an additional $75,000 from the community in 2023 to help those in need. Last year, MorningStar Mission served over 1,500 people through 20,729 nights of shelter, 88,491 hot meals, 2,278 counseling sessions, school supplies for 554 children, 3,777 Christmas gifts for children, 1,258 children’s Easter baskets, 71 life skills and educational classes, 16,535 services at our Drop-In Center (which includes a warming center, computer lab, temporary mail services, telephones, chapel services, etc.), and more. 100% of those we serve are low-income. MorningStar Mission Ministries programs and services include: • Women and Family Programs – The Mary L. Weitendorf Women & Family Center provides housing for women with children, families, and fathers with children; also houses the Reclaim Youth Support Ministry, which provides adolescent women and men 16 years or older and facing homelessness or undesirable living arrangements with a safe, healthy residence while enrolled in high school; also operates single family homes in the community to provide permanent supportive housing for graduates of the Women & Family Center. • East Side Café – Offers three meals six days a week and two meals on Sunday to people in the community who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness. We are the only agency in Will County offering hot meals multiple times per day every day of the week. • Men’s Programs: Emergency Shelter – provides emergency, overnight shelter for men 18 years old and older and is open 6 pm to 7 am 7 days a week, 365 days a year; 180 Men’s Residential Recovery – a goal-oriented, men’s residential recovery program; Hope House – provides transitional housing to graduates of the 180 Men’s Residential Recovery Program who need additional time for recovery and who are employed or attending school; Veterans Program – provides permanent, supportive housing for homeless veterans. • Drop-In Center – Offers services for men, women, and children who are low-income or are experiencing homelessness, providing a safe environment to spend daytime hours, locate resources, and receive referrals; and it serves as a heating and cooling center • Thrift Stores – Our Treasure Chest thrift stores at our two locations provide families with a way to shop for clothes and household items with dignity; also provides emergency vouchers for clothing and furniture to participants in our programs. • Counseling Center – Provides those in need with affordable, professional counseling services. • Community Outreach: Jump On the Bus – back-to- school program that provides school supplies and more for children in need; Shop With a Sheriff – pairs an at-risk child with a Will County Sheriff’s police officer to shop for gifts for their parents and siblings during the holiday season; New Lenox Cares – in partnership with the New Lenox Police Department, helps children in the New Lenox community get holiday gifts for their parents and siblings.; Holiday Food Baskets – provides food baskets to ensure holiday meals for low-income families; Stars of Hope –provides Christmas gifts to families in need throughout the community; Food Pantry – Friday Food Pantry helps ensure that no one in our community goes hungry.

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2022 Annual Report