Stewpot Community Services

Stewpot Community Services is a non-profit organization in Jackson, Mississippi. It provides assistance at no charge to people in need of physical and spiritual nourishment, and its work has grown into 15 ministries supported by thousands of volunteers and donors each year. The Community Kitchen serves a noontime meal to anyone, no questions asked, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Stewpot Food Pantry serves more than 700 people a month, giving each family a four-day supply of groceries for the whole household. The Billy Brumfield House offers emergency shelter for men 18 and older, along with a transitional housing and sober-living program and a short-term medical recovery program. Matt's House shelters homeless women and women with children, providing an evening meal and a light breakfast. The Clothing Closet offers clothing, shoes, and accessories at no cost in a thrift store-style setting, sorted and organized by volunteers. The Opportunity Center Day Shelter serves as a homebase for the homeless with laundry, mail services, and computer access. Other programs include an afterschool program with homework help and tutoring, a seven-week summer camp for children in kindergarten through ninth grade, HeARTWorks art classes, a housing assistance program, a legal clinic staffed by volunteer attorneys, and street outreach. Stewpot holds a rating of 4.50 based on 236 reviews.

The organization began in 1981, when seven Jackson congregations came together to respond to the needs of their neighbors. Modeled after a soup kitchen in downtown Dallas, each congregation committed funds and volunteers to serve lunch five days a week in a renovated old gas station. Within ten years, Stewpot had added a food pantry, a clothing closet, a medical clinic, emergency shelters, and a summer camp program. In 1992, the soup kitchen moved across the street into the old Central Presbyterian Church, and the name was changed to Stewpot Community Services to reflect the range of efforts under its umbrella. The organization now occupies that entire campus. Stewpot describes its commitment to hospitality and compassion and to offering unconditional positive regard to everyone, wherever they are on life's journey.

Stewpot sits on West Capitol Street, about 0.2 miles from Willowood Center and Poindexter Elementary School and 0.3 miles from Poindexter Park. Robinson Street is roughly 0.2 miles away, and the Jackson Union Station Bus Terminal is about 0.7 miles from the site.

Stewpot Community Services has built a solid reputation among the people it has served, reflected in a large base of customer reviews and an established track record in Jackson.