Emmaus House of Harlem

Emmaus lost our devoted brother, Omar Siddiq, today. He's been a loyal, selfless servant to God and Emmaus for decades. He will be missed. Rest in peace brother.

Dream Team showed up to volunteer at our food pantry today. 60 families served!

Another wonderful community dinner! Shahin spoiled us all with another amazing meal.

A wonderful dinner with the Emmaus community tonight. Soup Run was rained out but come join us tomorrow night. Prayers for our friend O.S. tomorrow

Friends of Emmaus, Ten years ago today, Father David left us to be with Christ. Emmaus House’s founder and inspirational leader spent 40 years serving the poor of Harlem. Taking Dorothy Day’s advice, he came to Harlem in 1966 to fulfill his ordination commitment to dedicate his life to the poor. In my fifty-three years, I’ve not personally known anyone who lived a life of such dedication to the message and calling of the Gospels. Following St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s advice,... he lived simply so others could simply live. His possessions at death were his library of books, his VHS movie collection of the oldies but goodies, and of course his Bob Dylan cassettes. As a young boy growing up in poverty in the old South of Mississippi and Alabama, he recognized injustice for what it was. Somewhat like Forrest Gump, he always seemed to land in interesting places at interesting times: the south during segregation, protecting Autherine Lucy at the University of Alabama, organizing in Birmingham with Martin Luther King, marching on Selma, shadowing Dorothy Day during her prime, attending seminary in Rome during Vatican II, pursuing social justice with the Berrigans, and serving Harlem during its most challenged days. His calling came in the form of Matthew 25 and Luke 4 that he said struck him like lightning. If you told me ten years ago that Emmaus House would still be serving the poor today, I probably would have doubted you. Immediately after his funeral, the board of directors met and committed to continuing on. The road to Emmaus has been a journey with many bumps in the road, but we continue on aligned with Emmaus’ foundational tenets. We are an ecumenical ministry serving the poor. Father David’s approach was unique in that Emmaus was a community of the poor serving the poor. His model provided healing, empowerment, education, transformation, and a sense of belonging for many who had given up on life. Now in our 50th year, we host a food pantry every Sunday with food contributions from the Food Bank and City Harvest. Recently we’ve seen an alarming increase in our Sunday food pantry needs. Over the past four months our families served have doubled from 40 to 80. On Wednesday evenings, our soup run team walks the streets of Harlem feeding and ministering to the homeless. Our distribution has increased to 60 meals. While many speak about the gentrification of Harlem, it doesn’t take long to find the needy on a cold winter night. With proposed social program budget cuts of $1 trillion coming out of Washington, our purpose in the near future will only become more significant. Emmaus House can only continue if we have a large group of dedicated volunteers and a committed group of donors. On this special memorial today, we reach out for your support. Sincerely, Kirk A. Barrell Chairman of the Board & President DONATE TODAY https://www.networkforgood.org/donati/ExpressDonation.aspx https://www.emmaushouse-harlem.org/

What an excellent idea. A group of friends made a donation to Emmaus in honor of their friend Sara Peterson Harms to fund our spring planting. Thank you and Happy Birthday Sara!!