Sunday Dinner with a Twist: John’s Story

Valued

Redd, as John is called by his colleagues, feeds people living unsheltered, provides transportation, and provides connections to services for people experiencing homelessness. He does it because this was once his story too.

Six and a half years ago, John was living unsheltered and experiencing homelessness. He was in and out of rehabilitation facilities having experienced a substance use disorder for many years.  Things changed when he met his wife, Cassandra (pictured above with their son, Samuel.)  She helped him with his substance abuse and helped him get sober. And it was her story about Sunday dinner at her grandmother's house that gave them the inspiration for Sunday Dinner with a Twist.  

Sunday Dinner with a Twist takes dinner and poetry to men and women experiencing unsheltered homelessness…the ones who are oftentimes forgotten; the ones that you may pass by on the street; the ones whose families have been broken due to addiction; the ones who have become homeless due to certain circumstances as well as the ones that life has thrown a curve ball and feel as no one cares about them. Sunday Dinner is a way to bring back the one thing that most grandma's all over the world would do and say..."if you feed them a Sunday Dinner, they will come no matter what they are going through." 

Cassandra adds,” Sunday Dinner is all about bringing families together. If you don’t have a family, we’ll be your family.”

What began as a once-a-month meal for men and women living in transitional housing, shifted during the pandemic and social distancing to focus on feeding the men and women who are living on the streets a home-cooked meal every Sunday afternoon.

“We see families. We’ve even seen pregnant women under bridges and we don’t want people to think that all of them are out there under the circumstances of drugs and alcohol,” said John.

Some are depressed. Some are there because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It could be anybody, he said.

“When I was growing up, I never thought I would be homeless and then I was.”

They have also been providing men and women living unsheltered with masks, toiletries, tents, sleeping bags, clothing, etc. to wear and use while they are on the street. With the help of dedicated volunteers who graciously give their time each week, they prepare a meal that will feed 125 - 130 men and women.  

Poets – local and regional – also often donate their time and talents with performances. John believes Poetry is a way for one to express their words without judgment. It is a way to put into words and onto paper whatever is built up inside so it will be released. His hope is that these phenomenal artists save a life through their words. 

  “When you cook a meal for someone, you recognize the value of every human being and the person shows up no matter what type of day they have experienced,” says John.  Relationships that are built as meals are shared can lead to helping connect a person to resources that can ultimately end their homelessness.

Currently, the only federally mandated count of unsheltered men, women, and children occurs one night annually in January.  The most recent public data for Greenville County indicated that 168 people were living unsheltered on a single night in January 2022.

Portions of this story taken from:

John “Redd” Martin was recognized as a Community Hero.

Sunday Dinner with a Twist, visit https://sundaydinnerwithatwist.com/