Mission

We exist to give Hope to our neighbors experiencing homelessness and those living in poverty.

What We Do

Moments of Hope Outreach is a ministry in Virginia that serves Hanover and Henrico counties, and Richmond north of the James River. We began as a one-man outreach in late 2014, and became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2016. "Mo Hope" operates a homeless outreach and food pantry, hosts weekly community outreach luncheons with a mobile pantry, and provides emergency motel stays to our homeless neighbors. We operate with a paid staff of four full time and one part time, and lots of amazing volunteers.

Homeless Outreach & Camp Visits - We check-in with our friends living outside and provide supplies such as replacement tents and sleeping bags. We have distributed 1,000+ new sleeping bags and 1,000+ new tents since 2015.

Emergency Shelter Program - We serve as a safety net to Richmond's shelter system and those homeless neighbors who are unable to access traditional shelter after hours or when beds are unavailable, and therefore have nowhere else to turn. We provide Emergency Motel Stays for those suddenly experiencing homelessness. We also provide Emergency Motel Stays for our chronically homeless neighbors during dangerous weather and Dignity Motel Stays for those who have not bathed in weeks. We host our Room in the Inn program each year at Christmas...because no one should spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Night outside. We provided emergency shelter for 204 individuals in 2020 for a total of 1,745 nights, and at a cost of $103,000.

Mo Hope Pantry - Our food pantry is located near the Hanover Courthouse and provides enough groceries to prepare six meals to 150-250+ neighbors each week. Our staff assists with applications for benefits such as Medicaid and SNAP. In 2020, we distributed enough canned foods, dry goods, fresh fruit & veggies, and frozen meat to prepare over 66,500 meals. Our pantry operation regularly supports nine area food ministries and pantries with surplus bulk food we receive free from the food bank and other sources.

Saturday Servings - Our Saturday Servings Community Outreach events offer critical nutrition through quality food items to households experiencing food insecurity. Since 2016, we have hosted over 300 weekly outdoor community outreach events and served over 55,000 free lunches. Our guest tallies continue to climb due to COVID, and we currently serve an average of 310 struggling neighbors each Saturday rain or shine.

These events provide a free hot meal, health screenings, clothing, bike repairs, tents and sleeping bags for those experiencing homelessness, and assistance with Medicaid, SNAP, and replacement photos IDs. For many of our guests, these events provide a rare opportunity to socialize and fellowship, as many are seniors, disabled, and shut-ins. The hot meals we provide are prepared and served by groups from partner churches and businesses.

We hosted our 300th outdoor Saturday Servings event on September 18, 2021; canceling only one event due to weather since we began them in December of 2015. The pandemic caused us to cancel three events and pause our pantry operations while we adapted our processes to social distancing requirements, masks, and more. Since resuming these events and pantry operations, the number of people we serve has returned to pre-pandemic levels and is climbing...

Thank you for your prayers and support of this ministry!