Even the most dedicated volunteers and the most generous churches can find themselves stretched thin when faced with rising need and shrinking resources. In New Bedford, George Bailey, director of Mobile Ministries, is bracing for what could be his toughest winter yet.
Bailey founded Mobile Ministries in 2009, establishing it as a nonprofit with a simple but critical mission: to feed people living without homes. Over the past 16 years, he has built a network of more than a dozen churches, funding partners, and 100-plus volunteers who together serve meals year-round. Six times a week, food is distributed at three city sites, with deliveries recently expanding into Fall River as well.
But this year feels different. Food prices are climbing, funding may be cut, and the number of people in need continues to grow. Bailey worries about what will happen if the local motels and hotels aren’t funded to open their doors for emergency shelter this winter.
Some days, the weight of the challenge feels overwhelming. Then Bailey turns back to his faith.
“Well, God makes it work. I’m just his servant,” he said with a chuckle. “So I’m praying regularly, you know?”
Bailey was speaking on a Wednesday morning in September, as three volunteers stood in the kitchen at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church making sandwiches while two others prepared the food truck.
The meals were set to be handed out at the Reverence Church site on Brock Avenue, where demand has doubled in the past year—from 25 or 30 sandwiches to about 60. Other sites that offer food include a Purchase Street lot across from the Salvation Army and PAACA on Coggeshall Street.
Volunteers make the operation work, said Baliey.
“All the teams that we have are some of the greatest people ever,” he said.
The ministry had found its rhythm when the pandemic upended everything.
“It was really running like a Swiss watch until COVID,” Bailey recalled. “When COVID came, it just blew everything apart. The Salvation Army was so filled with people in those days that you couldn’t get in. It was like driving the truck into a beehive.”
To keep operations safe, Bailey worked with the city’s Health Department and local police, ensuring food reached people without adding to the risk.
He senses that this year might be similarly disruptive. Mobile Ministries relies on financial support from churches, and Bailey has carefully kept church contributions steady for years.
“I get the sheet of everything (and calculate it) down to the coffee stirrers. $95 is what it takes to get this thing out of here. If you want to continue this ministry, you have to pay this,” he said.
That amount is the same today as it was 16 years ago, even as costs for food, gas, and supplies continue to rise.
The need has also grown and Bailey sees a direct connection to the housing crisis.
“You know we’ve got this much housing and this many people,” he said, holding his hands close together and then spreading them wide. “That just doesn’t work.”
To help people survive harsh conditions, Bailey organizes an Outdoor Survival Fund, previously called the Winter Survival Fund. The Go Fund Me campaign raises money for blankets, sleeping bags, and other essentials.
But he fears the upcoming season could test the ministry like never before.
“We’re looking at a Goliath of financial issues coming up. It’s going to be more people, paying more for the food, for the people and less income coming in,” he said. “If we don’t get some funding, it’s going to change the landscape of everything and it’s going to have a domino effect too.”
Still, Bailey refuses to think small.
“I can’t think small,” he said. “First of all, you’re limiting God. Because he’s the one really doing the work. I’m just the hands and feet of it.”
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