Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Holly Marshall has worked on a fishing boat, in a mailroom and in a pizza parlor. She made car parts in Michigan, baked doughnutsand worked in customer service. But now she's jobless and behind on the rent, like increasing numbers of Rhode Islanders and Americans across the country.

Today, Marshall was among more than 1,200 people who received a free Thanksgiving dinner and social services for homeless and low-income people, courtesy of a joint community effort called "Healthy Helping for 2008."

The linking of the Johnson & Wales University 17th-annual Thanksgiving Dinner, and "Project Homeless Connect" -- offering services that included free flu shots, legal aid, benefits assistance, food-stamp applications and urgent medical care -- was a joint effort by the university, the state Housing Resources Commission, the United Way of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.

"What brought me here today is the economy. It's so low, I can't find a job," said Marshall as she waited at Beneficent Church for legal advice. "I used to think I was too good for these places, but I've been looking for employment -- anything and everything. I'm not choosy when it comes to employment. A job's a job. And the way things are going, people can't sneer at anything."

The dinners were served in Snowden Hall, on the Johnson & Wales campus, and social services were offered at the Beneficent Church Round Top Center up the street.
The dinner -- turkey and stuffing, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, soup, salad, rolls and dessert -- drew a line that stretched down the sidewalk. Culinary students and staff prepared the meals; volunteer faculty and staff served them.

 Tags  Johnson & Wales Providence

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