The Community Kitchen at Eva's Village

Eva's Kitchen was founded in 1982 to help feed the hungry. To begin the feeding ministry, the first meal of hot dogs and beans was served in the basement of St. John's Cathedral to 30 individuals. In the early 1990's an expanded kitchen was built on Main Street with capacity for 240 people. To help feed the growing number of homeless and working poor, an expansion in 2011 increased the capacity to 400. The Kitchen now serves a nutritious breakfast and lunch for up to 400 individuals, and is open 365 days a year. In addition to the meals served to guests in our Kitchen, daily meals are prepared for the 350 men, women and mothers with children who reside in our recovery and sheltering programs, amounting to 1,300 meals each day. Guests dining in our Community Kitchen do not stand in line to be served. We seat them at tables and serve them with dignity and respect. We serve all who come; we turn nobody away. During the extreme cold of winter and the summer months of July and August, the number of homeless and working poor needing a meal increase and another partial seating is added. Additional seating is provided to help feed the hungry on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Outside the dining hall is a large courtyard that is an area of social interaction. It is a safe and welcoming place closed off from the busy streets of Paterson. As relationships form, clients come to understand the many homeless, addiction treatment & health care resources available to them and may choose to take the next step, whether it is shelter, substance abuse treatment or free medical care. Volunteers to help feed the hungry are an essential ingredient in the Community Kitchen, and we welcome the participation of individuals as well as local businesses, religious, civic and educational groups.