Cherry Street Mission

1947

Cherry Street Mission Ministries was founded on June 14 by Jesse and Bertha Fleck to offer homeless men "soup, soap, salvation, and shelter."  Eventually, the Flecks moved into the mission and sold everything they had to support it.

1964

The Mission relocated from Cherry Street to Summit Street, but kept the Cherry Street name because of its high name recognition in the community.

1980

We moved to our current location on Monroe and 17th.

1991

Cherry Street launched Ready For Life, a rehabilitation program designed to help men overcome drug and alcohol addiction, as well as other debilitating behaviors.

1995

The Sparrow's Nest, our shelter for homeless women, opened in a two-story brick building near the corner of Collingwood and Delaware.  In addition to emergency shelter, the Sparrow's Nest offered guests evening meals, clothing, and toiletries.

That same year, we changed our name from Cherry Street Mission to Cherry Street Mission Ministries to better communicate that we'd widened the scope of our work beyond our original ministry to homeless men.   

1998

Sparrow's Nest guests began taking part in Cherry Street's Ready For Life program.                       

2001

Our Education and Career Center opened. It housed a computer lab and small classroom, offering our guests and clients referred by other agencies free computer training, GED prep and testing, job readiness courses, and simulated work experiences.

2003–2004

The Sparrow's Nest was remodeled and expanded to become a 52-bed unit housing homeless women and women in the Ready For Life program.            

2006

We kicked off the new year by opening the Madison Street Food Services and Community Center at 1919 Madison Avenue.  Open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, the Center provided 3 meals a day to the hungry, as well as a variety of other services and ministries.

2007

Good Samaritan Outreach Center in Toledo's Old South End became part of the Cherry Street family.  The center, located at 1108 Broadway, served roughly 200 meals a day to the homeless and poor in the surrounding neighborhood.  

2008 

We opened the LifeBridge Center in the former Banner Mattress Factory Warehouse, which was graciously donated by Toledo's Karp Family.

Today, the Center houses both the Clothing Your Community and Banner Furniture Banks.

2009

Cherry Street launched efforts to provide supportive transitional housing for men and women who are ready to leave the Ready For Life program, but either can't find permanent housing or aren't quite ready to live independently.  We purchased and rehabbed a home for women's transitional housing called Abigail's House, and broke ground for Caleb's House on our Monroe Street campus.                                      

At the end of 2009, we opened The Oaks to handle the dramatic increase in female guests seeking refuge at the Sparrow's Nest as a result of the recession.  Located at 252 Bronson Avenue, near Lagrange, The Oaks provides housing for women who have made progress in turning their lives around, but aren't yet ready for transitional or permanent housing.                                      

2010

In its inaugural drive, Clothing Your Community collected 80 tons of clothing for people in need.  Clothing Your Community, which continues to supply the bulk of  donations to its namesake clothing bank at LifeBridge Center,  is a partnership of Cherry Street, LaSalle Cleaners, The Andersons, Fifth Third, YMCA/JCC, WTOL, Toledo Free Press, K100 and Cumulus stations, United Way, ProPak, and H.O.T. Graphics.

That same year, Cherry Street closed Good Samaritan Outreach Center because the cost of repairs required to make it safe were too high to justify for a 100-plus-year-old building. Fortunately, with our partnership with Western Avenue Family Center, the South Toledo Community Center was established to continue—and to expand—services to residents of the Old South End.