WACO, Texas — Just a few blocks over from the bustling Magnolia Silos sits a big blue house. Three times a week, people who are homeless, hungry, and poor line up in front of the house.
“A lot of people, they try it one time and you can’t get rid of them now,” said Waco resident Curtis Mack. "I was on a downward path and I started coming here and the preacher who is usually here reminds me it is not where you’re from, it is where you’re going, so I go here."
Mack is talking about The Gospel Café, a former drug house that was turned into a tranquil place of hospitality and good food.
“It’s a place of peace,” Mack said. "About ten or fifteen minutes of being here and you start moving around. You just forget about what made you mad. This is my peace place.”
Mack, 38, has fallen on hard times and been in trouble a time or two. He has been going to The Gospel Café since he was 9. As a way to give back, he volunteers in the kitchen, which he said motivates him to stay on the right track.
“On the outside, it doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re in the back doing the dishes, you see all the plates and the glasses and dishes you say, 'Oh my God,'” Mack said. “Then you count the numbers and say, 'I served 210 people today.'”
In 1996, Crossties Ecumenical Church purchased the home at 825 South 10th Street and transformed it into what is now called The Gospel Café.
“We needed a place for the neighborhood people to get together in peace and have a safe place to eat together,” said Crossties Ecumenical Church member John Cowley.
Cowley keeps everything at The Gospel Café in order. He said the church felt it was their mission to give back to the poor.
“The poor people in this neighborhood have been our teachers from day one and we’ve learned a good deal on how to be like Christ,” Cowley said.
According to Cowley, they serve about 180 to 200 people on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. He says 50 percent of people who come are homeless. The other half are one paycheck away from being homeless and the working poor. People eat for free, but every now and then a donation will come in.
“Meals all through the week that don’t cost anything are very beneficial,” Cowley said. “We will occasionally get $2 or $3. Someone who is better off might bring $20,” Cowley said.
At one point, Sherry Castillo was the editor of the Baylor Line Magazine. She gave up her job just to be at The Gospel Cafe. She said what used to be important is no longer, so she followed her calling by cooking in the kitchen.
“I just said, 'I don’t know how, but I will start it.' I have four children and I figured that gave me a heads up on it,” said Castillo, a Crossties Ecumenical Church member and Gospel Café cook.
Across from The Gospel Café is the brand new La Quinta Inn and Suites. The hotel was built to accommodate the visitors who frequent Waco every day. Homes around The Gospel Café are also being renovated for Airbnb’s and for middle and upper-class families. Cowley said gentrification has already started happening in the neighborhood. He said if the poor leave, they’ll have to leave too.
“For whatever reason, the homeless, the poor and the people who have attended prior to the hotel still come. We’ve lost some people who have moved out because of everything, but as long as the numbers are there, and the kind of person stays the same and a person has needs, we’ll stay here,” Cowley said.
Mack hopes The Gospel Café never moves. He said he too has seen a lot of changes. Not only in the neighborhood, but in the man he’s starting to become. He said if it wasn’t for The Gospel Café, there’s no telling where he’d be.
“It has had its benefits as far as getting out of trouble and out of the streets,” said Mack. “It wasn’t always great for me. But as I’ve progressed here, and learned a lot, it has actually changed my life, and I’m grateful. “
Every now and then The Gospel Café gets visits from people who don’t need the help they just want a meal.
Church members said no matter if you are rich or poor, anyone can eat at the Gospel Café. They said they vow to be hospitable to all.
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