Homeless Hospitality

There can be no beloved community without inclusiveness. We are called to stand with each other, especially with the most abused and excluded.

The BCC Homeless Hospitality House serves as a warm, clean day center where all are welcomed, offered hospitality and invited and helped to join a process of building authentic community.

We serve breakfast to about 120 people each weekday morning (except Wednesdays), and an evening community meal every Friday. The house provides access to showers and a telephone for those seeking work. There is a garden during the summer that produces fresh vegetables for the house and a space for neighbors to relate to creation and one another. Terry Speed, BCC Homeless Hospitality Coordinator, also facilitates periodic gatherings to discuss life concerns and social issues.

The BCC Hospitality House serves as an entry point for many who move on to expand relationships and find or create jobs, becoming more empowered by fully engaging and shaping their own lives. As these individuals become more whole, they also participate in strengthening the entire community by joining with others to challenge flawed policies that contribute to inequities, injustice, and marginalization.


For more information on the BCC's Homeless Hospitality Working Group, please contact .

Recent News & Views:

by Nancy McLaughlin

by Rev. Nelson Johnson

by Rev. Nelson Johnson

Photo Galleries:

photographed by Lewis Brandon
photos taken on Jul. 14, 2008

Mannie, Wray Norwood, James McKinney and other volunteers, friends, and neighbors from the Homeless Hospitality House are begining to see the fruits of their labors in the BCC Community Garden. Keep up the good work!

photographed by Lewis Brandon
photos taken on Jun. 11, 2008

A delegation of fifteen young people from SEEDS (South Eastern Efforts Developing Sustainable Spaces) in Durham, North Carolina joined the BCC in working on its community garden. The young people, in the DIG (Durham Inner-City Gardeners) program, brought their experience and enthusiasm to the effort of creating garden beds. Working with Rev. Nelson Johnson and Wray Norwood of the BCC, the group was able to prepare the plot for planting and then join us for our weekly community meeting. Many thanks to these wonderful and powerful young people.

photographed by Lewis Brandon
photos taken on Apr. 11, 2008 — Apr. 12, 2008

The Beloved Community Center staff, board, and some volunteers went to Dudley Inn in Kernersville for a weekend of retreat, deepening our relationships to one another and our commitment to the work. During the course of our day and a half retreat, over 35 board members, staff members, volunteers, and community partners joined our circle of discussion. We truly had an intergenerational gathering, from 16 year old teens to almost 80 year old seniors. Everybody's contribution was so meaningful and so important, including written reports, rich working group discussions, spiritual practices, sharing personal stories, poetry, music and priceless bonding and fellowship.