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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Norma Thweatt puts a t-shirt on a hanger as she and others volunteer at the Trinity Outreach Hub in West Homewood on Nov. 7.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Mary Liz Ingram, Outreach Hub director, unloads donations from Shades Cahaba Elementary at Trinity Outreach Hub.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Emily Oldham packs bags of food for families in need ahead of a weekly drive-thru food pickup.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Photographs show the journey of the Trinity Outreach Hub.
It all started with a conversation about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Right in the thick of the Covid pandemic, in April 2020, Mary Liz Ingram and her friend Mollie Erickson were thinking of ways to help people who had been affected financially.
“We were sitting in my front yard, and Mollie said she had a lot of extra PB and Js in her cooler,” Ingram said. “I just got a table and put it out there with a sign that said, ‘Free.’ That’s where the idea for the Sharing Table originated.”
Ingram, a local artist who was working as a preschool director in Mountain Brook at the time, began working at Trinity United Methodist Church in August 2020. Over time, she and her colleagues witnessed a rapid growth in the number of people who were in need.
“We just sat there and honed our vision about what we wanted to do, and by last January it had exploded,” Ingram said.
Ingram said the Outreach Hub grew out of three programs: Food Share, Backpack Program and the Sharing Table. As the donations have continued to pour in and more people learned of the ministry, volunteers and community leaders came together to build a brand-new Outreach Hub Market at the Trinity West Homewood campus, which held its grand opening on Oct. 1.
This central location for Trinity’s outreach ministry has exponentially expanded its mission to help those who need assistance with
everything from food, clothing, household items, and utilities.
Through Food Share, every Tuesday afternoon, the Outreach Hub serves 250 local households with pre-packed groceries through a drive-thru line under the Outreach Hub portico.
“Anyone is welcome at the drive-through. Everything else is by appointment,” Ingram said.
At the Sharing Table, which takes place every Thursday, local families can receive supplies like food, books, household items, clothing, baby equipment and furniture.
Trinity’s Neighborhood Network grew out of The Sharing Table and helps meet more specific, urgent needs.
“We have about 300 people on the email list so far,” Ingram said “One day, we found out someone needed a blender, so someone brought a blender. Another time someone needed a car seat, and within 10 minutes a car seat was dropped off.”
The Backpack Ministry addresses childhood hunger by packing and delivering weekend meal packs to students in Homewood City Schools, providing around 100 bags each week. Trinity UMC has Blessing Boxes available at both campuses, a concept similar to the Little Free Libraries around the city, so that people “can take what they need and give what they can.”
The Outreach Hub also offers a large “Free Store,” where people can shop for clothing, household items, furniture and food.
The Hub works with community partners including United Way, Inspiritus and Alabama Interfaith Refugee Partnership, which operates out of Trinity West and serves refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from countries including Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.
“When the Afghan refugees settled in Birmingham around winter of 2022, they didn’t have anything but the clothes on their backs,” Ingram said. “I sent out an email and posted on Facebook that they needed help, and it was just like a runaway train.”
Trinity volunteers hold community English classes on Monday nights to help people who need assistance with English speaking, reading and writing skills.
“We have a volunteer, Edna Vasquez, who speaks Spanish and some French, and we even have some volunteers who speak Arabic,” Ingram said. “With the English classes, we’ve formed a separate community of diverse faiths and cultures. We open up a couple of hours before the English classes start, and this has given us a chance to have conversations and get to know people in the community.”
Amin Sherzad, along with his wife Freshta and two-year-old son Oktay, came to Birmingham from Afghanistan in 2022. Sherzad learned about the Outreach Hub through Inspiritus, and he said he has since formed a special bond with the volunteers and other families.
A data manager with Simulations Plus, Sherzad helped improve the ministry’s data management and check-in processes. He even cooked kebabs at the Hub’s grand opening.
“I’ve met some good friends, other refugees and families from Afghanistan,” Sherzad said. “A few months ago, they were struggling with attendance sheets for the ESL classes, and I made a QR code and helped them with that. Now it’s much more streamlined and fancier.”
Ingram said word-of-mouth and social media have played a huge role in the Hub’s success.
“Letting this grow organically is a big reason why this has been successful,” Ingram said. “We’ve been able to maintain a safe space where people are comfortable.”
Ingram said faith is what compels her and all of the volunteers to do what they do.
“It’s been a wonderful experience for everyone,” Ingram said. “Life is so much richer for all of us.”
The new Outreach Hub is located at 914 Oak Grove Road in Homewood. To learn more, visit outreach.trinitybirmingham.com.
