Services We Provide
Through community engagement, our team aims to build relationships with individuals experiencing homelessness and increase their awareness of available services. Our Office Hours are designed to collaborate with community partners to improve the well-being of individuals currently living unsheltered by using a client-centered, compassionate approach. Through building trusting relationships and working with each individual’s unique needs, we aim to dismantle current barriers to housing and end the cycle of homelessness. Our goal is to provide effective case management services to clients throughout their journey into stable housing.
Services we provide:
Free Store - Outreach event every Tuesday from 9:30-11:30 to provide clothing, personal items, and showers
Assistance obtaining identify documents (state IDs, birth certificates, Social Security cards)
Ongoing case management support to help clients transition into housing
Connect individuals with other community partners
If you or anyone you know could benefit from our services, please email referrals@opentableministry.org or call us at 919-412-7011.
Free Store
-
Every Tuesday, we host a “Free Store” event at our downtown Durham location, in the parking lot directly across from City Hall. Anyone in need can come once a month for assistance with clothing and personal items. No referral needed to receive these services.
-
In partnership with Fresh Start Durham, a local nonprofit committed to restoring dignity through access to showering services, every Tuesday we provide a location for our neighbors in need to receive a shower and access to haircut services. A hot shower and fresh pair of clothes go a long way to restoring a sense of humanity.
-
In an effort to establish our Free Store as a safe space that builds community, we offer coffee and light snacks to encourage people to hang out and build relationships. Every now and then, you’ll see volunteers out there making pancakes or distributing soup.
Office Hours
-
Every week, our offices are open for walk-in support Monday 9am-1pm and Wednesday - Friday 9am-1pm. Appointments are not necessary, we help people as they arrive.
-
During our Office Hours, our neighbors in need can receive the following services:
Mail services
Obtaining ID documents (State ID, Birth Certificate, and Social Security Card)
Resource Navigation
Navigating Continuum of Care: information / education
Food Stamp Applications / enrollment
Medicaid Applications
Telehealth Appointments
Listening Ear
-
Open Table Ministry conducts a program that helps individuals obtain items necessary for work such as steel-toed boots, non-slip shoes, and work specific clothing items to help reduce barriers for employment. Our neighbors can access this service every 6 months, as needed.
Emergency Winter Shelter
-
Our Emergency Winter Shelter operates during the cold weather months from November 1 - March 31.
-
We have provided both congregate and non-congregate shelter options in the past. The site locations change from year to year. Click here to learn up-to-date information about this year’s Emergency Shelter.
-
This year, we are operating a congregate shelter in partnership with Yates Baptist Church on White Flag Nights. The shelter will open every night the temperature goes below freezing (when the weather drops below 32° F or 37° F with precipitation). We are a no turn-away shelter, and have a max capacity of 20. For location and regularly updated information, visit our Winter Shelter page here.