Across Gainesville, churches and faith-based ministries are working to support residents in need, offering food, prayer and clothing. Some churches specifically work to serve the Latin community.
Community advocates say these programs play an important role for families who may face language barriers or limited access to resources.
Domingo Garcia, a 69-year-old Gainesville resident, said he discovered ministry services when he emigrated from Venezuela and was in need. Other Venezuelans in Alachua County introduced Garcia to places like Catholic Charities Gainesville and The Children’s Table, a nonprofit food pantry in Bronson.
“While I was unemployed, it was hard for me to buy food like milk, bread, meat or chicken,” Garcia said.
The Children’s Table serves anyone in need. Many Latino people frequent the place, and a couple of volunteers speak Spanish and help provide the services. Garcia said he could get meat and vegetables in exchange for a $5 donation at the time. Now, community members can receive these items in exchange for a $10 donation.
“That helped me save some money for a rainy day when I finally got a job,” Garcia said.
Now, Garcia works as a Lyft and Uber driver. When he has immigrants in his car, he said, he often connects them to the same services he relied on.
“I would see that they needed clothes or food, and I would take them to the places and give them directions, and there they would get dressed and fed,” Garcia said.
One ministry Garcia often brings people to is Lynndetta Spann’s Prayer & Deliverance ministry. Spann only speaks English, so Garcia accompanies immigrants and helps them communicate.
Spann started her ministry in 2015. It’s a huge changemaker for the community, she said.
She goes to different apartment complexes and low-income areas to distribute boxes of food. She also does it in front of her own house.
Information about her services gets passed around the community through Facebook, WhatsApp and word of mouth, she said. When people in need call her, she works quickly to prepare items for them.
Other ministry leaders are hoping to expand their impact in the near future.
Naomi Bernice Perez, 45, is part of the Gainesville Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Movimiento Internacional Espiritu de Vida. Her husband, Pedro Acevedo, is a pastor at the church.
Providing material help goes hand-in-hand with offering spiritual guidance, Perez said.
“We as a church felt in our hearts to take this initiative, among others, to continue fostering the idea that there is a church that offers spiritual care, but also care for families in need,” Perez said.
To do so, Perez said, the church is in the process of moving to a bigger location so it can distribute more food.
“It all depends on how soon we can move, and a church move isn't something that happens overnight,” Perez said. “As soon as we get the place, we hope to move in that month and then organize everything.”
Contact Dulce Rodriguez-Escamilla at drodriguez@alligator.org. Follow her on X @DulceRodrigueze.
Dulce Rodriguez is a sophomore Journalism Major with a Public Relations minor in her first semester at The Alligator, working as El Caimán's general assignment reporter. She loves to dance and bake in her free time, and she also enjoys watching murder mysteries and documentaries.
