From left are Celtic Cross church member Joy Lineback, Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team board Chair Irene Hronicek, Citrus Heights’ Navigator Gabriella Yost and Pastor Sam Jun. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

CITURS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Celtic Cross Presbyterian Church in Citrus Heights is partnering with the Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) to launch a new lunch café ministry.

A nutritious warm meal of hot soup and a deli-style sandwich will be served from 3 to 4 p.m. every Thursday, starting Aug. 14, at the church’s Runquist Hall at 5839 Dewey Drive.

Celtic Cross has participated in the Homeless Assistance Resource Team’s annual Winter Sanctuary program for many years, serving as a “host church” for multiple weeks on behalf of other faith-based groups that lacked the space to serve as weekly hosts.

“The idea to start this lunch cafe program grew from Celtic Cross’s long-time annual participation in HART’s Winter Sanctuary program each year,” said church member Joy Lineback.

Winter Sanctuary is a rotating emergency overnight shelter program for Citrus Heights residents operated by the Homeless Assistance Resource Team in partnership with the local faith-based community and other volunteers. The program runs from December to the end of February.

“We wanted to help do more to help the unhoused and this is a simple step to nourish our community one meal at a time,” Lineback said.

Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team board Chair Irene Hronicek provided training to about 20 Celtic Cross volunteers and provided a comprehensive brochure of available resources they can give to the unhoused they meet. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

Lineback said that Celtic Cross members wanted to do more for the unhoused than “just offer a week of shelter” during the winter months.

“A proposal to start a weekly lunch café ministry for the unhoused was considered and then approved by the Session of Celtic Cross, the church governing body of the minister and ruling elders which are elected by the congregation. The church then applied for a grant from the North Central California Presbytery in Carmichael to start the program,” Lineback said.

Celtic Cross Pastor Sam Jun said that the North Central California Presbytery in Carmichael approved $2,500 in initial funding to start the new weekly Thursday lunch program.

“We look forward to sharing the successful results of our efforts with the North Central California Presbytery so the Thursday lunch meal can continue,” Jun said.

Getting the word out to the public about the new lunch café to the unhoused will be a task jointly handled by volunteers of Celtic Cross and the Homeless Assistance Resource Team through public outreach.

Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team board Chair Irene Hronicek provided recent training to about 20 Celtic Cross volunteers and provided a comprehensive brochure of available resources that they can give the unhoused they meet.

“We (Homeless Assistance Resource Team) are delighted that Celtic Cross is joining us to provide a meal program for all those in need each week,” Hronicek said. “We encourage other faith-based community groups and churches to help, offering their sponsorship and locations on Tuesday and Friday each week.”

Meals are offered by Living Water on 7605 Lauppe Lane in Citrus Heights from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays. Holy Family Catholic Church at 7817 Old Auburn Road offers a community dinner meal at 5 p.m. Wednesdays.

“It will take time to let the unhoused in this area know that the new Thursday lunch program at Celtic Cross is available,” Hronicek said. “Just invite them and make them feel welcome.”

The new program could initially attract 20 to 30 people at Celtic Cross and that amount could grow as more learn about it, Hronicek said.

Hronicek also introduced Gabriella Yost, the city of Citrus Heights’ Navigator, a community health worker who acts as the main outreach specialist in Sacramento County’s coordinated system that assesses and provides connections and services for the unhoused. 

Yost has more than seven years of field experience in Citrus Heights, Orangevale and Fair Oaks, according to Hronicek, and is directly assigned to Celtic Cross for the Thursday meal to offer more comprehensive outreach assistance.

Celtic Cross volunteers will be able to distribute the Homeless Assistance Resource Team’s resource brochure to the unhoused who are less than a mile from the church in and around the busy corner of Dewey and Madison Avenue, where the Safeway grocery store and Starbucks Coffee are located.

Celtic Cross Presbyterian Church is at 5839 Dewey Drive in Citrus Heights. Photo by Tom Sullivan

“We sense the difference this much-needed program can make to help care for and humbly serve our neighbors. It creates a very special shared sense of community in our ministry,” Pastor Jun said. “And we also welcome those from the public who may be able to join us to volunteer to serve a meal one Thursday each month.”

Citrus Heights Homeless Assistance Resource Team meets at noon the third Thursday of every other month at Holy Family Catholic Church, 7817 Old Auburn Road, Citrus Heights. For more information about the Homeless Assistance Resource Team, visit citrusheightshart.org

The volunteer-driven, community-based organization is committed to ending homelessness in Citrus Heights, serving individuals and families facing extreme poverty, housing insecurity, and chronic instability by connecting them with essential, local resources that foster long-term stability and independence.

Celtic Cross Presbyterian Church is located at 5839 Dewey Drive in Citrus Heights.

Volunteer sign-ups to serve lunch are ongoing.

For more information about the Celtic/Homeless Assistance Resource Team Lunch Café Program, contact Lineback at 916-607-3773.