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Our History


Minnie Belle McIntosh, founder of the Shepherd's Table Clothes Closet, accepting the 2007 Legacy Award

Shepherd's Table Then: 1983
In 1983, homelessness was a city problem. People didn’t go hungry in the suburbs, certainly not in a relatively affluent suburb like Silver Spring, Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C. In Silver Spring, everyone who wanted to work had a job, and everyone had a home to go to at the end of the day, complete with a warm bed and a hot shower. In 1983, everyone who became sick could see a doctor and no one went without prescription medications. Maybe things were different in the city, but Silver Spring never needed to worry about the problem of extreme poverty.
In 1983, many people in Silver Spring wanted to believe that this story was true. But, of course, it wasn’t.

Homelessness wasn’t a just a city problem. Homelessness was a problem everyone had to face, even residents of Montgomery County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. In January of 1983, Silver Spring HELP, an all-volunteer nonprofit grassroots organization created to provide emergency assistance to the disadvantaged, began plans on a proposed solution to this dilemma. On December 16th, after nearly a year of development, in a small Cape Cod bungalow behind the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring, 33 local religious congregations came together to form the county’s first soup kitchen. They called it the Shepherd's Table.

Of course, establishing Shepherd’s Table wasn’t a simple process. Initially, there was strong neighborhood opposition to the idea of a soup kitchen. “Wouldn’t we be encouraging unknown groups of indigent people to leave Washington and come into our own neighborhoods?” “Won’t our local businesses be threatened by increased rates of crime and property destruction?” “Why is this our problem?” After many meetings between Silver Spring HELP, local residents, public officials, the County Council, the Silver Spring Government Center and the Chamber of Commerce, the answers to these questions became clear. Homelessness was Silver Spring’s problem because we cared about our community, and whether we chose to acknowledge them or not, these individuals in need were part of that community.

Once word of Shepherd’s Table got out, Montgomery County citizens proved they were eager to respond to this newly recognized crisis. Volunteers donated their time and energy to preparing meals under the supervision of a professional chef. Montgomery County Public Schools donated commercial kitchen equipment, dishes, cookware, tables, chairs, and shelves to Shepherd’s Table’s modest facility. Health, nutrition, and security professionals were brought in to educate volunteers. Physicians, nurses, and mental health counselors served as knowledgeable and courageous leaders in the effort to address needs that went beyond simple hunger.

That first night in mid-December, volunteers from St. Luke’s Lutheran Church served an evening meal to 7 guests. By June of 1984, Shepherd’s Table was serving over 1500 meals each month. Within a year of its opening, this ‘soup kitchen’ was offering its guests free clothing, laundry and shower facilities, a medical clinic, social services counseling, drug and alcohol addiction treatment, mental health therapy, and referrals to shelters and other professional services. By 1985, Shepherd’s Table was an officially recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Shepherd's Table Now: 1996-2008
By the early 1990s, Shepherd’s Table was one of the most respected partners in the community. In July of 1996, Montgomery County decided that Shepherd's Table was so valuable to Silver Spring that it moved the nonprofit from its cramped quarters in the house behind First Baptist Church to a new facility, a renovated bakery which had been transformed into a multipurpose community center called Progress Place. The county provided the new location rent-free, allowing for Shepherd's Table to use its funds for operational expenses and the direct benefit of its vulnerable clientele.

Each evening from 6 P.M. to 7:30 P.M., Shepherd’s Table opens its doors to those who are hungry, just as we have every night, without fail, for the past 24 years. In all that time, we’ve never missed serving a hot, nutritious meal to those in need, and we’re committed to making sure that we never will. Just as we did when we started, Shepherd’s Table continues to offer a wide range of services. From our Clothes Closet, which allows individuals and families to select from among our donated clothing items each week, to our Resource Center, which is open every day to help homeless people collect mail, make phone calls, or receive assistance with Social Services, to MobileMed, Montgomery County’s mobile medical facility which parks at Shepherd’s Table on Monday evenings, our organization continues to meet the fundamental needs of the community.

Shepherd’s Table has also expanded to address the issues facing Silver Spring’s at-risk population as the neighborhood continues to change and grow. While downtown Silver Spring has realized an exciting revitalization, many problems facing its citizens have grown more complex. In 1999, to help the growing number of individuals without adequate health care coverage, Shepherd’s Table established an eye clinic, providing free vision testing, glaucoma screening, and prescription glasses to people who could not otherwise afford these services. In 2004, we added a bilingual counselor with personal experience with the immigration process to our full-time staff in order to better communicate with the community’s Hispanic population. We continue to reach out to members of the local business community, actively participating in the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce, and remain an important advocate for homelessness awareness, reaching out to local schools and religious organizations.

For a nearly a generation, Silver Spring has been able to rely on Shepherd’s Table and Shepherd’s Table has been able to rely on the community. Thanks for visiting our website, and please consider coming to see us in person at Progress Place. We’re looking forward to showing the next generation just how big a difference can be made when all of us work together!

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