Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 24, 1995 TAG: 9508240075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Since 1991, The Shepherd's Table - a Bedford volunteer group that provides weekly hot lunches for people in need - has been feeding its flock in the fellowship hall of Bedford Presbyterian Church.
Wednesday, it greeted its guests in a new and improved dining room in a new building.
What used to be an old furniture store on Washington Street in Bedford has become the central location for The Shepherd's Table and two other volunteer-based organizations - Bedford Christian Free Clinic and Bedford Christian Ministries.
"We have our own kitchen now," said Ellen Foster, chairwoman of The Shepherd's Table. "I'm just so excited about everything."
Placemats that read "God Loves You" adorned the three long tables that made up the new dining room. As 11 a.m. neared, people from Bedford Christian Ministries began to mill around, waiting for the free lunch to begin. It took only 15 minutes for the tables to fill with men, women and children who came to eat ham, broccoli, candied yams, rolls - and chocolate cake for dessert.
"It's the first time I've been up here," said James Anderson of Bedford. "This beats staying at home and cooking for yourself."
By the end of lunch, The Shepherd's Table had served 92 people, Foster said.
"It's hard to tell what every person's situation is, and we don't ask," she said. "Some of them come just so they don't have to eat alone."
Down the hall at Bedford Christian Free Clinic, Bernice Martin and Lois Eggleston were talking about how the free clinic has helped them control their high blood pressure. If it weren't for the free clinic, the women said, they wouldn't know how they would maintain their health.
Martin and Eggleston say the clinic is just one more thing they have in common.
"We've been friends for almost 40 years," Eggleston said. "We've stuck together like sisters."
For them, part of sticking together has meant driving from Moneta almost every Wednesday since the clinic opened in May 1992. They come to the clinic for regular checkups and to have prescriptions filled.
For some patients, the clinic is the only way of getting any kind of medical treatment.
"A lot of the people that come here put food first, then shelter, then clothes," said Violet Stephens, the clinic's executive director. "For them, medical care comes last - or it doesn't come at all."
The clinic staff, like the staffs for the other two organizations, is made up mainly of volunteers. Two doctors, two nurses and two receptionists provide medical services each Wednesday.
The clinic, which formerly operated out of the basements of Washington Street Baptist Church and Main Street Methodist Church, was once a large room with partitions and curtains dividing its space. In its new location, it has three examining rooms and a room for counseling and provides basic medical treatment including X-rays, lab work and school physicals.
As Martin waited to have her prescriptions filled, Mary, who did not want to give her last name, waited a few seats away for her appointment at Bedford Christian Ministries, which shares the same waiting room.
"It's better this way," said Mary, the mother of four. "When you've found one, you've found all the rest."
She was in need of a chest of drawers. Having moved to Thaxton in February from New Jersey, she said she was confident the volunteers at the Bedford Christian Ministries would be able to help. After all, the ministries had already helped with the security deposit for her apartment and had helped pay her electric bill once.
"We're here for the people," said Bill McClure, director of Bedford Christian Ministries. "This new building here is the tool that helps, and our volunteers are like the cogs in the wheel."
Bedford Christian Ministries used to call a house near Main Street Methodist Church home. Now the ministries has more room for clothes and household items for its clients.
All people who use the services of Bedford Free Clinic and the Bedford Christian Ministries must have incomes below the U.S. Department of Agriculture poverty level, McClure said.
Bedford Free Clinic operates from 8-11:30 a.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month and from 5 p.m. until as late as 9 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays. Operating hours for Bedford Christian Ministries are 9:30-11:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Shepherd's Table serves meals each Wednesday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***