Loaves and Fishes Zine
Last semester, my students did a research project on Loaves and Fishes. Now, a semester too late, I find this electronic archive of quarterly newsletters from 2010 to 2017.
Last semester, my students did a research project on Loaves and Fishes. Now, a semester too late, I find this electronic archive of quarterly newsletters from 2010 to 2017.
Kate Bradley stands on the porch of the Bob Tavani House for Medical Respite. Bradley and her partner, Kelly Wallin, are live-in volunteers who help provide shelter and care for those in need of housing after a hospital stay. (Photo by Jack Wiedner)
Kate Bradley clears off a wooden dining-room table, which doubles as her desk during the day. She switches out her laptop and office supplies for mismatched plates and silverware.
Bradley’s partner, Kelly Wallin, scrounges through the refrigerator, gathering ingredients for meatloaf. “No ketchup,” he reminds himself, as one of the residents is allergic to tomatoes. He will have to improvise.
The Loaves & Fishes volunteer community in Duluth has formed a nonprofit branch to deal with upkeep on its houses and other properties that provide food and shelter for the homeless and other at-risk people.
“Well I never!” What a way to start the day. Here at Loaves & Fishes on Jefferson Street, someone decided to set our Little Free Book Library on fire this morning! An officer happened to be driving by and she noticed flames emanating from the library so she stopped, grabbed her fire extinguisher, and extinguished the flames. Who thinks it’s a good idea to burn free books? Seriously.
With the ongoing foreclosure crisis and rotten economy, there are lots of properties in Duluth sitting vacant, often leading to vandalism and neighborhood blight. In the meantime, more Duluthians than ever are suffering homelessness.
Loaves & Fishes and Project Save Our Homes are looking for help to identify vacant houses in the Duluth area, particularly bank-owned foreclosures. We will be using this information to push for policy changes to protect neighborhoods and address the problem of homes without people and people without homes. Any information would be helpful: addresses of course, but also if you know how long the house has been vacant (condemnation/eviction/foreclosure notice are usually posted on the door), if utilities are connected… and if you might help organize your neighbors to address the problem! Contact us by Facebook or email: [email protected].
