Church of Hope
San Antonio Church of Hope is a faith-based homeless outreach ministry serving people in San Antonio. Their mission is to provide compassionate support, encouragement and hope while helping meet basic needs through hot meals, clothing and care packets. Through Christian fellowship, worship and the message of Jesus Christ, they seek to build meaningful relationships and remind every person they are valued and cared for.
Volunteers are welcome to join them. Volunteer outreach takes place on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays of the month from 1:30–3:30 p.m. under IH-10/35 between Durango Boulevard and El Paso Street. Volunteering provides an opportunity to serve meals, provide essential items, offer encouragement and show compassion to neighbors in need.
San Antonio Church of Hope
Under IH-10/35 Highway between
Durando Boulevard & El Paso Street.
(210) 837-7891
dorcas_rogers23@yahoo.com
For more than two decades, a church has gathered under IH-10/35 Highway between Durango Boulevard & El Paso Street. At the heart of that ministry is Dorcas Rogers, founder of San Antonio Church of Hope, a nonprofit she started in 2015. Dorcas began serving people experiencing homelessness in 2000 through Momma Boone's ministry. In 2009, the outreach became part of Summit Church.
Then, in 2015, Dorcas followed her calling and established San Antonio Church of Hope. “I felt in my heart that the Lord wanted me to do this,” Dorcas said. Today, that journey represents 26 years of serving people experiencing homelessness in the same area of San Antonio. Dorcas said churches and volunteers throughout the community have helped make the ministry possible, including Summit Church, Oak Ridge Baptist Church and Expect a Miracle Church, which helps prepare food, along with volunteers from Community Bible Church, Cornerstone and many others.
A Mobile Church Where Everyone Is Served With Dignity
Dorcas describes San Antonio Church of Hope as a mobile church. Each week, volunteers transform an area beneath the bridge by setting up tables and chairs and creating a place for coffee, a hot meal, praise, worship and fellowship. But there is something noticeably different about the way meals are served. “We feed them restaurant style,” Dorcus said. Rather than asking people to stand in a food line, volunteers invite them to sit at tables. Volunteers bring their meals and drinks directly to them.
“It's Their Church”
Over the years, Dorcas has learned that homelessness does not mean an absence of faith. “God showed me that these people know God,” she said. She has encountered many people with a strong Christian faith who deeply appreciate having a place where they can worship and belong. Some have been coming to the ministry for years. “It's their church, and it's where they feel comfortable,” Dorcas said. She has watched relationships grow; friendships form and lives intersect in unexpected ways. “We've had weddings down there,” she said. “We've even had our volunteers meet their future spouse down here. So, God works not just with the homeless, but with the people that serve too.”
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A Younger Homeless Population
Dorcas encounters people between 18 and 30 years. Many are reluctant to talk. “It's hard to start a conversation because most are ashamed,” Dorcas said. She was told many were kicked out of their homes, came from families affected by drug use and many struggled with mental health and substance-use themselves. Their experiences reinforce why simply providing food isn't enough. Sometimes what a person needs are someone willing to sit with them, listen and treat them as a human being.
Pops: A Relationship That Lasted Through the Years
One of the people Dorcas has known for years is a veteran named Hugh, affectionately known as “Pops.” When Dorcas first knew Pops, he was using drugs. She helped him enter a recovery program. However Pops continued struggling with drugs and was asked to leave multiple recovery homes. Dorcas continued helping him through the years. Today, health problems have changed Pops's life, but they haven't separated him from the community beneath the bridge. He still makes the journey by bus with his wheelchair. “He's almost there every Sunday,” Dorcas said.
