Gateway to Hope Offers Service, Evangelism in Ocala

The Rev. James Giles distributes food and the hope of the gospel at Gateway to Hope.

GATEWAY TO HOPE

� �OFFERS SERVICE, EVANGELISM IN OCALA

BY DEWAYNE HAMBY

As many ministries have adapted to the changing landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gateway to Hope has regrouped and expanded its mission to feed families in the greater Ocala area. The nonprofit has existed since 2011, providing more than 100,000 people with services ranging from employment to housing to food. With physical distancing now in place, the ministry has adapted, focusing more on food delivery, this time using a safe, drive-thru model. “We’ve been running what they’re calling a mobile pantry,” The Rev. James Giles, CEO, said. “Every Saturday, we have about anywhere from 150 to 300 cars, averaging about 1,200 to 2,000 people represented that come through, and we fill their cars with food.”

MEETING NEEDS

During the distribution, Giles’ army of 30-40 volunteers gather to help hand out the food and minister to people in cars as they drive in, giving comfort and spiritual direction. Giles, an ordained Episcopal priest, has a nursing degree with some experience in psychology. He soon learned his background was helpful in discerning red flags of emotional need, a valuable tool he has also instilled in his volunteers. “We’re trying to help people and keep them safe,” he said. “Somebody might be struggling with extreme bipolar. We have a lot of schizophrenics that come through. We find ourselves in a lot of different situations.” Giles said before the pandemic hit, Gateway to Hope’s primary beneficiaries were the homeless, retired veterans and the self-employed. Since the shutdown, with so many job losses, their crowds come from a variety of places and all

walks of life, even those who might seem as if they don’t need assistance. Workers often see families drive up in newer, nice automobiles, sometimes with tearful apologies that they’ve lost their jobs and might soon lose their cars or homes. “Sometimes there’s a lot of humiliation, a lot of embarrassment,” he said. “And we’re just trying to comfort them and let them know that God loves them. This is all about our opportunity to minister to our community and just trying to encourage them in the midst of the challenges they find themselves in.”

BUILDING BRIDGES

Food, Giles believes, is “the bridge in people’s lives,” a way to minister and make a connection for an eternal difference. “Being an evangelist at heart, my primary calling says they need Christ; they need the gospel; they need to know the grace and love of Christ,” he said. “So that’s at the heart of what we do. But at the same time, there are so many physical needs that need to be met. And thankfully, we’ve been able to accomplish a lot of that.” Giles estimates that during the past year, between volunteer hours and resources distributed, Gateway to Hope has impacted the Ocala community with a value of more than $500,000. “On some level, we’re trying to bring some hope and some stability in the midst of a crisis where people really feel alone,” he said. One recent success story is a young couple in their 30s who sought out help. Both were veterans, both had struggled through drug addiction, and they had an autistic son. The ministry helped them get on their feet, find employment and connected them to other nearby ministries for assistance with insurance and additional needs. Another older woman spent most of her life in the Peace Corps on an island in South America until a volcano claimed her home and everything in it. Although she was very independent and did not want to request help, Gateway to Hope found it a privilege to come to her aid.

FINISHING WELL

In addition to the army of volunteers and its full-time CEO, Gateway to Hope employs three young men on a part-time basis to help gather food in a large trailer the ministry owns, traveling to places like Jacksonville, Gainesville and Orlando. They travel through the week, whenever they are notified of someone wanting to donate large amounts of food. Gateway to Hope receives its funding through a few major donors, including a partnership with St. George Episcopal Church in The Villages that includes volunteers who help in the ministry. Sadly, three of the ministry’s volunteers from that location lost their lives to COVID in the past year. “The scripture that kind of keeps coming to mind is the Apostle Paul talking about running the race and finishing well, and I really believe this is an opportunity for people in that stage in life to finish well,” Giles said. “This volunteer ministry is as much of a ministry as the people who need the food.” Looking ahead, Giles hopes the ministry will be able to meet in person again as before the shutdown. After the food distribution on Saturdays, for many years, they held a service and had even discussed building an outdoor pavilion for their growing numbers. Now those numbers have grown so much they’re reevaluating its size, even after distancing guidelines are relaxed. “It would be nice at some point to be able to get back to some semblance of a service,” Giles said. “But on some levels, we’ve kind of grown past that. We even talked about trying to raise funds to build a big, open pavilion, where we can expand that to an outdoor situation. We were outgrowing it even before COVID. Since all of this happened, it’s unimaginable how we would do that.” The ministry is always seeking more donors and partners and makes itself available to show others how to start a similar ministry in their own areas. Recently, two ministries have done this, beginning their own food pantries that are growing and expanding. “We would love to network with more people, to be a jumping spot for people to learn how they can take on those types of mentors in their own location,” Giles said. “We love to replicate what we’re doing in other communities.”

Keisha Smith (left) and Caesar Alemao (right) volunteer at Gateway to Hope. For more information on Gateway to Hope, visit GatewayToHopeMinistries.com.