Gateway Homeless Services Food Pantry distributes food donated by wholesalers, grocery stores, social groups and individuals, to homeless shelters and food pantries throughout the Bi-State Region. The program also focuses on feeding the elderly and working poor.

Operation Brown Bag provides more than 100 homeless men and transients with nutritious brown bag lunches each day, made possible through the commitment of many diverse faith and civic organizations.

Kids Caring 4 Kids is an annual holiday food and toy drive that benefits homeless children and families in the St. Louis Metropolitan area during the holiday season. This event is done in cooperation with KMOV -TV Channel 4, the Cooperating School Districts and corporate sponsors, More than 20,000 children benefit from it annually supporting many different shelter and housing organizations and their clients across the bi-state area.

Back to School Campaign collects school supplies and backpacks for homeless and needy children in the Bi-State area. The campaign, done in collaboration with Dierbergs and the St Louis Science Center, is supported by local companies and individual donors. It began in 1993 and serves thousands of children each year.

Educational programming of many kinds is provided for youth and adults through volunteer events and activities.  For example, children from the Ladue School District come weekly to share time and attention with children in the shelter.  The St. Louis Public Schools insure that all children are in school close to the shelter or bussed to the school they attended prior to coming to the shelter. 

St. Louis Science Center Summertime Science program introduces valuable math and science skills to children who live in the shelter and to children who live in the immediate neighborhood of the shelter.

Ask the Dr. Thursday's is a innovative program conducted by BJC Behavioral Health Services and Washington University that uses medical residents to teach clients about health through a question and answer game format.

Gracehill Healthcare Services is a program that provides nursing care to people at Gateway. Gracehill provides a visiting nurse that is available to shelter residents on designated days and is on call for specific needs.

Career Realities-Investing in Homeless Women is a motivational program for women residing in the shelter. The program focuses on inspiring women to pursue their dreams and to work toward important work and life goals. Career attire is provided to each resident who participates, and professional women conduct break-out sessions detailing personal, first-hand accounts of how they were able to achieve their career goals and have a strong impact on our community.

Plans are now underway for the St. Louis City/County Continuum of Care (CoC) to End Homelessness Annual Summit.  Gateway Homeless Services will help with the planning and implementation of this event. The next summit will focus on an assessment of affordable housing in our community and the next steps in expanding the transitional and affordable housing needed to end homelessness in St. Louis.

The summit is scheduled for May or June of 2009. For more information or to participate in planning for the Annual Summit, contact:

Martin Rafanan, Executive Director
Gateway Homeless Services
314-231-1515 x12  or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Continuum of Care to End Homelessness is an expression of a 10-year Plan to End Homelessness in St. Louis.  The CoC works to organize and deliver housing and services to meet the specific needs of people who are homeless, moving them into stable housing and maximum self-sufficiency.