YOUNGSTOWN Woman's ministry outgrows her home

The North Side woman is pleading for a building where she can conduct her ever-expanding ministry.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man stands in the bed of a pickup as cold rain pours down. He pulls case upon case of macaroni and cheese out to the truck's gate.
Another man unloads the boxes from the truck and drops them at the house door. A third volunteer hauls the food to the narrow basement doorway. There's no room to get by.
The basement with a low ceiling is full of refrigerators, freezers and canned goods stacked shoulder high. Down there, two more volunteers look for space to put away the cases of mac and cheese amid dozens of bottles of juice, jars of baby food and boxes of powered milk.
Then, four people show up at the back door, asking about getting some food. Those folks will take a number and wait.
"Tell them to give us a minute, so we can clear a path," says Thelma Fitzgerald.
Tuesday's scene illustrated why this North Side minister desperately needs another place to do her work.
What's happening: This beehive of activity is Fitzgerald's Norwood Avenue house.
Almost every other day is like this, she says.
Tuesday, about 10 volunteers shuffled food inside and prepared packages meant for those who need it.
"They're congested trying to shelve it. They're congested to just get it in here," Fitzgerald said.
The work was an extension of an Easter giveaway that started Saturday. Having so much food and too many people who needed it prevented the work from being finished over the weekend.
Fitzgerald and her crew of volunteers just can't work out of her house anymore. Besides a full basement, her living area is cluttered with donated shoes and other items. Four racks of clothes run the length of her 11/2-car garage, filling it.
All the hauling and lifting takes a physical toll on the volunteers, too.
"I need room to spread out," Fitzgerald said. "It's breaking all of us down."
Details: Fitzgerald, 72, started Amazing Grace Ministries three decades ago. She serves an excess of 300 people a month and has a client list of around 2,500 people. Larger agencies, from Head Start to Help Hotline, sometimes refer people to her.
Besides a large place for all the food, refrigerators, freezers and clothing, Fitzgerald is looking for space to teach life skills such as reading, parenting and cooking. She also wants a family room where grandparents who so often these days are unexpectedly raising their grandchildren can relax occasionally.
"They need their break," she said.
She has her eye on the old Salvation Army building on Mahoning Avenue but hasn't talked to anybody there about it yet.
Donations would keep the lights on and the water running in a building, but there isn't any money to buy one. So, she is relying on faith.
"Expenses I don't worry about. God has the money," she said. "In 38 years, God has never failed me."
rgsmith@vindy.com