San Antonio Church of Hope

For more than two decades, a church has gathered under IH-10/35 highway between Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard & El Paso Street. At the heart of that ministry is Dorcus Rogers, founder of San Antonio Church of Hope, a nonprofit she started in 2015. Dorcus began serving people experiencing homelessness in 2000 through Momma Boone's ministry. In 2009, the outreach became part of Summit Church's ministry.


Then, in 2015, Dorcus followed her calling and established San Antonio Church of Hope. “I felt in my heart that the Lord wanted me to do this,” Dorcus said. Today, that journey represents 26 years of serving people experiencing homelessness in the same area of San Antonio. Dorcus 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

Dorcus 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, much like servers in a restaurant.


“It's Their Church”

Over the years, Dorcus has learned that homelessness does not mean an absence of faith. “God showed me that these people have 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,” Dorcus 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.”

Learning to See the Person on the Other Side of the Table

“Serving the homeless made me realize that anyone could be in that position,” Dorcus said. “We're just a paycheck away from being on the streets.” There have been times in her own life when she came close to experiencing similar circumstances. “So I take care that I treat them the way that I would want to be treated.” Dorcus has watched people receive help, return to old habits, get into trouble and begin again. Instead of expecting someone's life to change overnight, she has learned the importance of continuing to care.


A Younger Homeless Population

Dorcus is seeing more young adults experiencing homelessness. She encounters young people between 18 and 30 years old by themselves rather than as part of a family. Many are initially reluctant to talk. “It's hard to start a conversation with them because most are ashamed,” Dorcus said. But as trust develops, some begin sharing what happened to them. Dorcus has heard stories from young adults who were kicked out of their homes, came from families affected by drug use or were struggling with mental health and substance-use. Their experiences reinforce why simply providing food isn't enough. Sometimes what a person needs is 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 Dorcus has known for years is a veteran named Hugh, affectionately known as “Pops.” When Dorcus first knew Pops, he was using crack cocaine. In 2015, Dorcus helped him enter drug recovery. However Pops continued struggling with drugs and was asked to leave multiple recovery homes. Dorcus continued helping him through the years, including helping him find housing again when he became sober. 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,” Dorcus said.


More Than a Meal

San Antonio Church of Hope may not have the walls, pews or sanctuary of a traditional church, but for the people who gather beneath the highway, it has become a place of worship, friendship, dignity and belonging. For Dorcus Rogers, the mission remains rooted in a simple understanding developed over thousands of Sundays: the person being served on the other side of the table could just as easily be any one of us. And beneath a San Antonio highway, volunteers continue setting those tables, pulling out the chairs and bringing meals directly to the people who have come to call this place their church.