Outreach at St. Martin’s

The Suthers Center for Christian Outreach

The Suthers Center is the primary outreach of St. Martin's. Its Emergency Assistance program began in the early 1980’s, with support and volunteers from St. Elizabeth’s Guild, and the Food Pantry had its beginning in 1979 at Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church.

The Center is named for Father Derwent Suthers, beloved former Associate Rector at Saint Martin, who appealed to community churches in 2007 to join Saint Martin in a local outreach center. St. Martin's lovingly took on the management and services of The Center, and maintained the facility in Chamblee until March of 2020 when the Food Pantry was moved to the church. Brookhaven Christian Church and Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church remain strong partners to Suthers and St. Martin's volunteers.

For more information, visit the Suthers Center website. To donate to The Suthers Center, give here.

The Suthers Center Programs

The Emergency Assistance Program provides personal attention to individuals and families in need of help. It does not offer MARTA cards during the summer months (June - August). Emergency Assistance does not provide rent, but does offer assistance with utility and phone bills, as well as referrals for shelter and medical help. All assistance is offered on Saturday mornings between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. at St Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church. No assistance is provided by phone.

The Food Pantry provides nutritional food through the Atlanta Community Food Bank, federal, and state programs. The Pantry operates a drive-thru on Saturday mornings from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. at St. Martin's. Information is required on the first visit, and clients are given a card for ongoing visits.

The Hall Assistance and Transition Service (HATS) provides shelter to homeless families and individuals. The program honors Bruce Hall, former Chair of The Board, and has assisted more than 200 families with immediate shelter, food, and essential needs. The program operates by donor-sponsorships for people suffering from the conditions of homelessness. With partnership at Salvation Army’s Red Shields in Atlanta, HATS can house a homeless person at $75 (2 meals a day) for one week. Shelter has also been arranged with Georgia Recovery Center, Atlanta Mission, and local hotels at fees arranged for Suthers.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are needed for shelving and bagging on Thursday mornings in the Food Pantry from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Volunteers work outside and in the Pantry on Saturday mornings from 6:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., preparing bags and setting out needed equipment for registration and distribution.

Holy Comforter

Founded in 1893, Holy Comforter Episcopal Church is a diverse worshipping community in the heart of Atlanta that seeks to restore all people to unity with God and with each other. All are welcome at this unique parish, regardless of where they are on their faith journey. Worship is Episcopalian, Rite II, but is open, fluid, sometimes loud and always interesting. About 60% of the congregation lives with mental illness. All are welcome to come for the Wednesday 6:30 p.m. worship service and group dinner afterwards or for the Sunday Holy Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. with lunch following.

St. Martin's supports Holy Comforter's Friendship Center specifically from the outreach budget. St. Elizabeth's Guild has long been involved with the parish through attending the Wednesday evening service and providing and serving dinner afterwards several times each year. They are now pivoting to support of the Sunday morning service and lunch. Volunteers are always welcome for this ministry. Opportunities are available in the above-noted areas as well as garden, green house, art program and other projects on campus.

For more information, please reach out to Nancy Easterlin-Smith.

Interfaith Outreach Home

IOH is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to provide a safe, secure, and nurturing environment for homeless families. Families in the IOH program live in small self-contained apartments located in Doraville, Georgia. The program is designed to empower families to take control of their lives and successfully return to the larger community through intensive counseling, job searching and preparation, coaching, and life skills training and coaching including problem-solving and decision-making, parenting, budgeting, and money management.

St. Martin’s supports IOH from the outreach budget and, in the last two years, from the Endowment Fund as well. Proceeds from the annual Turkey Fry go to IOH, including donations of money and turkeys from parishioners to provide for the communities’ Thanksgiving meals. Several women’s guilds support IOH by hosting a Christmas celebration for residents with donated gifts and sponsoring other holiday events throughout the year. These guilds also regularly donate food, school supplies, vacuum cleaners, office supplies, and other household items. The bulk of proceeds from events such as the Bridge Luncheon hosted by St. Monica’s Guild go to IOH. One parish family donated an automobile to an IOH family who have since graduated from the program and purchased their own home. Several St. Martin’s congregants serve on the board of IOH. Volunteers are always welcome for this ministry.

For more information, please reach out to Melinda Mischik.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity seeks to put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Habitat has more than 2,100 affiliates worldwide, and in the US, Atlanta Habitat for Humanity is the seventh largest affiliate building 60 new homes each year. As the largest nonprofit, affordable single-family housing developer in the city, Atlanta Habitat goes beyond-the-build to spur neighborhood revitalization and enable homeowners to pursue educational and professional goals that will positively impact families for generations.

St. Martin’s has sponsored the construction of a new Habitat home each year for more than 30 years. For a long time (when the financial commitment was more modest), St. Martin’s independently constructed a new home each year. More recently, we have pooled our resources with those of several other area churches in what is now the annual “Spring Faith Build.” Our annual outreach participation includes generous financial contributions from the entire congregation, the preparation of a lunch for one of the eight build days by an intrepid group of volunteers, and the on-site construction contribution of a couple of dozen parishioners who serve a Saturday or two raising a life-changing home for a deserving family.

For more information, please reach out to Tim Kelly.

Anonymous Groups

St. Martin’s offers several anonymous groups the space to meet on a regular basis. If you or someone you know is suffering from an addiction or is affected by the addiction of someone they know, please feel free to attend any meeting.

Al-Anon meets every Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Burgreen Library.

Gambler’s Anonymous meets every Thursday evening from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Burgreen Library.

Northside Young People's AA Group no longer meets at St. Martin's for the remainder of 2025. Their new meeting location is Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church.

For more information on these groups, email admin@stmartins.org.