OUR MISSION

The mission of The Ministry of Caring Inc. is, simply, to serve the needs of the poor with dignity, respect and love.

Incorporated April 27, 1977, in Wilmington, Delaware, the Ministry began with Mary Mother of Hope House.

The region’s first shelter for homeless and destitute women, continues our mission and now has served more than 7,000 residents.

And we now have 18 other programs. Emmanuel Dining Room – welcoming the hungry at three sites, no questions asked – has provided 7+ million meals.

Our housing now spans emergency shelter to permanent housing. We provide safe, comfortable housing for men, women, women with children, adults with disabilities, those living with HIV/AIDS and our beloved seniors.

We also offer job placement and training, Rapid Rehousing services, affordable dentistry, low-cost high quality childcare and more. All our programs aim to lift the poor, help them gain self-sufficiency, restore their self worth and renew their hope.And all we do grows from our shared belief in Brother Ronald’s words that “the poor should never be treated poorly.”

United by passion to serve the poor, our community of diverse staff, volunteers, donors and supporters is committed to fulfilling the vision of Executive Director Brother Ronald Giannone, OFM Cap., that “the poor should never be treated poorly.”

Since Brother Ronald began the ministry in 1977 with the first shelter for homeless women on the Delmarva Peninsula, we have worked ceaselessly to ease the needs and struggles of our neighbors surviving at the fringes of our wealthy society.

Our efforts have grown into many programs in and near Wilmington, the largest city in Delaware and chronically enduring its deepest concentration of homelessness, unemployment, food insecurity and overall poverty that disproportionately affects residents of color, especially children and seniors.

We work daily in our many programs to ease their suffering, to reduce the stigma of poverty, to restore their hope.

Through nutritious breakfast and midday meals for the hungry, no questions asked, at Emmanuel Dining Room. Through dignified and cheerful rooms for residents of our shelters, transitional residences, long-term housing and permanent homes for those living with disabilities. Through help for the unemployed to find and keep work as they grow toward independent living. Through affordable dental care and access to mobile medical services visiting our program sites. Through top-quality early education and care for children of the homeless and working poor, focusing on individual growth, education and resilience. And through creation of apartment villages for seniors, who are most threatened with homelessness by the critical shortage of available, affordable housing.

Ultimately, we work to get rid of poverty, to sustain and empower those who endure it now.

Nothing would be more pleasing to all of us associated with the ministry, as Brother Ronald has said since its earliest days, than to go out of business because poverty has been eliminated and we’re no longer needed.

Until that day, please share our heartfelt mission of service to lift the lives and hearts of our most needy neighbors.

The Ministry of Caring is federally certified as a 501(c)(3)tax-exempt nonprofit – Employer Identification Number (EIN) 51-0209843 – existing solely to provide for the needs of the poor.

Please join us in accepting this challenge.

Ministry of Caring Organizational Chart