One of the programs supported by your Missions Committee is the NOAH Project. Through the years you have welcomed speakers from their Detroit mission, you have gathered together, winter coats, scarves and missions, you have helped to support the “bag lunch” efforts. We thought you might enjoy a reminder of their goods works and a history of how these programs started.

The mission of the NOAH Project is to empower low income and homeless Detroiters to achieve stability by serving as the first step on the journey to self-sufficiency.

In 1976, members of Central United Methodist Church saw that people in their community needed food. Responding to this basic need, church members began offering a Bag Lunch to anyone who came to their door twice per week, on Mondays and Thursdays. This program, now nearly 40 years old, remains the cornerstone of the NOAH Project. 

In 1999, realizing that people needed more than just a lunch, Central partnered with Family Service, Inc. and created the NOAH Project (Networking, Organizing, and Advocating for the Homeless). NOAH began offering social services and physical health counseling. 

The NOAH Project operates a Community Center in downtown Detroit for people living on the streets. Offering lunch four days a week, one-on-one social services, physical health counseling, empowerment-based programming, and emergency needs, we strive to build a family support system for those who come to us.

We believe that change comes through positive, trusting relationships. At NOAH, we support individuals by developing trusting relationships founded upon acceptance — acceptance of who that person is. When acceptance is combined with compassion and honesty, it builds trust.