"The Hands and Feet of Jesus" by Dave Sudnick

Matthew 25:36 says, “I was naked and you clothed Me.” In 2013 I asked Mike Swiger how I could serve at True Freedom Ministries. He shared with me his vision of having a clothing room where men coming out of prison could get clothing and some personal hygiene items. I agreed to help out and Dave’s Slack Shack was born. We quickly outgrew our initial space and moved to a much larger area. Over the years, we have greatly increased our availability of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, shoes, and winter coats due to the generous support and partnership of our donors and several other charities and mercy ministries. 

This increase in donations enables True Freedom Ministries to pass on items to urban churches that distribute them to the homeless and poor, e.g. Elizabeth Baptist Church and Faith Baptist Church. We also support the Grafton Prison Reintegration Center, Bishop Cosgrove Center, Y-Haven, City Mission, Northeast Ohio Homeless Coalition, Haven Home, and Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries. Many of the ministries listed here have an ongoing need for new, unopened personal hygiene items.

In 2019, we distributed 11,427 items of men’s clothing and personal hygiene items. This total does not reflect the uncounted bags of women’s and children’s items that far exceed the number of men’s items we distributed. One of our very generous donors recently purchased winter coats for the Slack Shack and the Grafton Prison Reintegration Center, as well as 300 hoodies for distribution to the homeless.

Matthew 25:35 says, “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink.” One of our mercy ministry partners has also donated food, whole milk, diapers, baby wipes, and personal hygiene items to us from their abundance. This enables us to support others who need these items.  In 2019, we distributed over 2000 quarts of whole milk and a lot of food to many of the ministries listed above. 

What a privilege it is to serve in Jesus’s name.  Please pray about how your time and talents can be used to serve the least of these in our city.  There is much work to be done.  

Contact David Wessel at dwessel@tfmohio.com for more information about how to get involved.