Prints
Kelli Stawecki is the Homeless Ministry Director at Water’s Edge Church, when she started volunteering at the church 12 years ago her perspective on unhoused individuals was very different. Hers is a journey of relearning the truth of other’s condition. She advocated for a food pantry to be expanded and food services to be offered, at the beginning feeding 12 families, and in the present day they are feeding 1200. It’s important to Kelli and the other staff and volunteers that participants can come in and feel at home, giving people the chance to form community and come together, many participants volunteer themselves to work to make meals and help others. Kelli wants every person that comes into the space to know that they are safe, loved, and wanted, that they are family. Water’s Edge is often called on by the city to function as a heating and cooling center during the most dramatic temperatures of the year, although they are not allowed by the city to stay open as a shelter overnight. The need for a free access overnight shelter for the Lake Charles community is essential for a city of our size, and we have none. Water’s Edge may not be able to provide an overnight shelter, but they are on their way to raising funds to complete a building project for a multipurpose facility that will provide basic necessary services to the larger community, such as free access to showers, laundry services, mail collection, and more. All these resources are needed for anyone in an unhoused position to be able to work towards taking the next step in a critical position. Kelli emphasizes that the church has an open-door policy, everyone deserves love, and everyone is welcome with open arms regardless of their circumstances.
Residency at the Museum, 2023