CLEVELAND — At St. Herman House in Ohio City, Thanksgiving Day is just like any other.
"Just seeing everybody happy and knowing that they don't have to go out hungry that's a big plus," said Robert Hanna, former resident at St. Herman House.
The doors open, with volunteers on hand serving up hot meals.
"We are like a big family we're taking care of a huge house, feeding people welcoming people into our home so it's a huge family for us right now," said Kirk Reis, St. Herman House director.
Reis said they are on pace to serve about 65,000 meals this year, providing breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.
Carl Cook is the director of food service. He uses his craft in the kitchen to connect with the guests they serve, and he sometimes helps connect them to resources.
"You get to build a trust, build some respect and what happens is once you do that you start to build those relationship to find out what's really going on, we have mental health, we have different kind of issues that run into our citizens," Cook said.
Carl said he struggled with alcoholism and was homeless at one point himself. Now nearly 20 years sober, he's hoping to use his story to inspire those he feeds.
"You want to inspire others every day, you know, and that's why the relationships are so important because when you talk about measuring success, no matter who it is, everyone has different measurements of success and as we realize their success, we walk with them and that's why the relationship in the food is the attraction," Cook said.
The shelter has a coat drive coming up on December 18th and is always in need of volunteers and donations. You can find the full list of needed items and more information on how to volunteer here or call 216-961-3806.
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