Note: This story has been updated with comments from Mary Bray and Mayor Grebien.
PAWTUCKET – According to Adrienne Marchetti, those forcing the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen out of their basement space have refused to engage with them about their future.
The executive director of the city-based nonprofit says they’ve now been told they need to be out of the St. Joseph Church building at 195 Walcott St. by the end of this month, despite the fact that there’s no new location ready yet.
The soup kitchen is the only place in Pawtucket serving meals six days per week to the homeless and delivering them seven days per week to local shelters, she said. Not once have any of the decision-makers in this process, whether from the Diocese of Providence, Saint John Paul II Parish, or Saint Raphael Academy, talked to her or the board about where those homeless people will eat.
“For a whole year, we’re in flux and these people will not work with us, which doesn’t make sense,” she said.
Marchetti said she remains very frustrated that those who speak so much about the words of Jesus seem to be ignoring some of his important words about caring for the poor.
She said she and the board intend to fight this decision, but they would prefer that the parties support the soup kitchen and work with them on their future. They really don’t have the money for an attorney, she added.
Marchetti said soup kitchen staff believe they’ve identified a new location for the nonprofit, which is wonderful, but it’s expected to take about a year to renovate that Pawtucket space.
She said everyone associated with the soup kitchen and its work is disappointed with this outcome, especially after hearing multiple times that Bishop Bruce Lewandowski was telling high-level people that the soup kitchen could stay until they secure a new facility.
“Here we are,” she said. “How can you do this? Where are these folks going to eat? I’m fighting for them.”
She emphasized that there is no way to keep feeding everyone who needs food if there’s no location to call a home base. She and volunteers serve 168,000 meals per year to 1,800 people, she said.
Rev. Stephen Battey, of the Saint John Paul II Parish overseeing the property, did not respond to a request for comment. A representative from the Diocese of Providence also hasn’t responded.
A Diocese spokesperson said last year that they have always supported the work of the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen, “and suggestions to the contrary or accusations of a disregard for the needs of the poor in our communities are entirely baseless.”
Mary Bray, chairperson for the soup kitchen’s board of directors, confirmed that June 29 is the date they have been given to be out, “however, we are working with them diligently to come to a more amicable resolution so that folks will not go hungry,” she said.
Asked for comment Wednesday evening, Mayor Donald Grebien said he learned about the unfolding situation earlier this week from some members at the soup kitchen. He said he reached out to Battey and the bishop stressing how important the soup kitchen is and how and how the sides need to work together. He said they’ll hopefully be setting up a time soon to discuss options, keeping in mind how important the facility is to Pawtucket and the people it serves.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure the soup kitchen is protected and continues services, hopefully working with the Diocese,” he said.
Marchetti said Battey delivered the news of their eviction to them verbally, and never said where the homeless will eat if the soup kitchen shuts down to make way for Saint Raphael Academy to use the building.
She said they had asked about a one-year or two-year lease extension to “get the job done” in allowing them to stay open until a move happens, but there was never a conversation about that proposal. She said they were told last summer that while the parish was closing, the soup kitchen could stay.
Marchetti said this is a terrible message to send to young people, that you can get whatever you want and it doesn’t matter who you hurt along the way. The church claims to be pro-life, she said, but what is more life-giving than food? Rhode Island seems to be obsessed with the Real Housewives, she said, as the real lives of hurting and downtrodden people are ignored.
