Drop-In Ministry

How Zion is doing Our Part through our “ZBC DROP-IN” Ministry

Zion Baptist Church in partnership with Ebenezer Baptist Church of Portsmouth, Virginia, continues to offer a prepared "hot breakfast" to the homeless community and those hungry.  

We also offer spiritual nourishment, in the form of prayers, sermonettes and testimonies for the homeless on a weekly basis, 3 days a week; held on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday’s from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 am.   at the H.W. Whitaker Educational Building, located at 528, Green St. Portsmouth, VA 23704 in the downtown area of the City. We Feed the "Homeless and the Hungry". No one is turned away in need of something eat. 

THE BIG PICTURE

The number of people who are homeless, defined as those sleeping outside and in homeless assistance programs, continues to decrease despite the fact that housing situations for low-income populations continue to be poor. This is probably in part because targeted federal funding to address homelessness is at its highest level in history: $4.5 billion in fiscal year 2015 for a variety of programs spanning HUD, VA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education.

While circumstances can vary, the main reason people experience homelessness is because they cannot find housing they can afford. It is the scarcity of affordable housing in the United States, particularly in more urban areas where homelessness is more prevalent, that is behind their inability to acquire or maintain housing.

By the numbers: (taken from Dept. of Housing and Urban Development – 2015)