WHEN Angelique Watson of Sunningdale had a vision about serving people, she knew that her vision would finally come to reality.
In 2016, she started praying about God revealing the purpose he intended for her. At the time, she had no idea what it specifically was and only that it would be helping the less fortunate.
“It took a good few years, but finally, at the beginning of 2023, I found out what my purpose was. The church that I attend was celebrating their Jubilee Year. Part of the celebrations was an outreach initiative at the Dennis Hurley Centre. This was when I came to the realisation that I needed to start a feeding initiative,” said Watson.
In July this year, Servings of Grace was born – a programme that feeds, on average, 100 people from the Greenwood Park Methodist Church in Blackburn Road every Saturday.
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On opening day, a total of 65 guests attended.
“We are definitely growing. Last year, we had 152 people attend. My vision was to do it differently. The poor or homeless are not seen; they are often ignored. People don’t make eye contact with them. My vision was to make them feel seen, loved and worthy,” she said.
Servings of Grace goes beyond a feeding programme – it is about interacting, socialising and building relationships with those who come to the venue.
“We have a group of volunteers who welcome guests at the door. They are all seated at tables, and we serve them meals and beverages. The ingredients are sponsored by a chef who cooks up nutritious meals,” she said.
Watson explained that living on the street is isolating because everyone is in survival mode so there are no relationships being built among the homeless.
The majority of the guests who attend the feeding programme at the Greenwood Park Methodist Church are men who have other needs, too, besides just a hot meal. They need clothing and toiletries, as well.
“We want to change that so we seat everyone together which allows for them to engage. It will take time, but we will get there eventually. We want them to build their own community and support each other,” she said.
“We would love to collaborate with other organisations and the community to get donations of toiletries in. We also want to upskill our guests and do our best to get them on their feet and into society again,” said Watson.
To get in touch with Watson, call 076 404 2105.
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