LINK meal program moves under Homeless Resource Center umbrella

LINK’s free lunches kept the same time, the same downtown church basement and the same no-questions-asked approach, even as the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen moved under the Homeless Resource Center’s umbrella. The program now operates as part of the HRC, but diners still get lunch at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday in the basement of First Christian Church, just south of the center at 944 Kentucky St.

The shift left LINK’s daily service intact. People who have depended on the meal ministry for years still walk in without an eligibility test, and the volunteer-driven program continued serving home-cooked lunches on the schedule that has made it one of Lawrence’s most familiar safety nets. LINK serves about 500 lunches a week, or roughly 20,000 meals a year, and the average daily count has been about 115 meals. About 60% of diners are experiencing homelessness, while about 40% use LINK to stretch their food budgets.

The change also linked one of Lawrence’s oldest meal ministries to a broader homelessness service hub. LINK opened on Feb. 14, 1985, in the basement of St. John’s Catholic Church after a 1984 Douglas County hunger study helped inspire its founding. The first meal served six people. In 2025, LINK marked 40 years of service, backed by 45 religious organizations, businesses and civic groups that have helped sustain the ministry across generations.

Under the new structure, the Homeless Resource Center, formerly known as the DARE Center, took on LINK’s staff and expected to add another service coordinator later in the year. Brett Hartford, who became executive director on Nov. 14, 2023, said the transition was developed collaboratively by both boards over the past year, with a goal of protecting LINK’s legacy while strengthening its future. Hartford previously led Just Food in Lawrence for a short time and spent a decade with City Relief in New York City.

The merger reflects a larger reorganization of homelessness services in Lawrence. The HRC already reported 2025 totals of 910 unique guests, 11,500 visits, more than 2,600 showers and more than 560 loads of laundry, and it works with more than 20 local organizations that provide housing, case management, health care, employment help and recovery support. With an updated special use permit in progress to expand space and service hours, the center is building a wider network around the same low-barrier help LINK has offered for more than four decades.