Mission Statement
Our mission is to serve all who come to us in need, and to provide purposeful discipleship by rescuing the downtrodden, restoring hope to the hopeless and releasing God's greatness to those we serve.

Our History
Since 1947 Cherry Street Mission Ministries (CSMM) has served homeless and low-income individuals. The doors are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide food, clothing, shelter, and other vital services including, literacy and vocational training, resource networking and job readiness assistance.

Cherry Street Mission Ministries was founded June 14, 1947 by Jesse J. Fleck. We relocated from Cherry Street to Summit Street in 1964 and then again in 1980 to the current location on Monroe and 17th.

In January 1991, a rehabilitation program called the Ready For Life Program (RFL) was started to help men overcome drug and alcohol addiction, and other debilitating issues.

In February 1995, Cherry Street purchased a two-story brick building on Collingwood and Delaware, the Sparrow’s Nest. In this facility, Cherry Street provided emergency shelter, evening meals, and clothing and personal items for homeless women. The RFL was implemented in the women’s facility in February 1998. In September 2003 we received a complete makeover. This project was completed in December 2004 and is now a 52 bed unit for women providing emergency shelter, case management, and our RFL Program.

In November 2001, Cherry Street added a fourth building to the campus, the Education and Career Center beside the Monroe & 17th facility. It consists of a contemporary, 10-station computer lab and small classroom. The Education and Career Center continues to offer instruction in job readiness, computer training, and GED testing. The courses are open to our clients and clients from other community agencies.

In April 2003, we restructured the residential programs in order to better serve the homeless. The Men’s Division now provides two residential programs to the shelter guests, which addresses their spiritual, physical, and vocational needs.

In January 2006 we opened our new Community Center and Food Services building at 1919 Madison Avenue. The center is open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week serving those in need with a variety of services and ministries.

In the spring of 2007 the Good Samaritan Outreach Center on 1108 Broadway Street became part of the Cherry Street family. The center provides appoximately 250 meals every day, serving breakfast and dinner 6 days a week.

In 2006 we served 158,773 meals, sheltered over 1300 single men and women, and educated nearly 300 people. We distributed 146 tons of clothing and 92.18 tons of food to individuals in need and to other agencies. We also received and redistributed thousands of household items including appliances and household furniture to individuals and families.

Sparrow's Nest

Madison Street Facility

Education Center

Good Samaritan