A Short History of Plowshares

Plowshares was founded in April 1983 by a coalition of faith-based individuals and others, including Sister Jane Kelly, Susan Crane, Martin Bradley, and Debra Meek.

Food was provided by pickups of surplus from local grocery stores. Each day of the week, a different church or organization cooked and prepared lunches, including St. Mary’s of the Angels, Ukiah United Methodist, Holy Trinity Episcopal, the Coalition for Peace on Earth, and Potter Valley Methodist Church. On the first day Plowshares was open – November 15, 1983—twenty people were served, and by Thanksgiving, they served fifty.

There was some discussion about whether a prayer before the meal was appropriate. Sister Jane proclaimed, “We want to welcome people without questions. We will not hold people hostage by their bellies; we will not make people pray in order to eat.” She supported her position with a quote from Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Fundraising was a constant challenge, but the appeal touched people’s hearts - and ours is a generous and caring community. The many unsung heroes included Ann Near, Mary Rice, David Patton, Jay Holden, Buddy Eller, Dorothy, and Al Anderson.

The volunteer cooks came from as far away as Potter Valley and learned to work creatively with what had been donated. As the crowds grew, they increased the quantities of ingredients.

Plowshares’ first facility was in the old Social Services building on Main Street. After losing that space in June of 1984, volunteers cooked in the Methodist Church kitchen and served in St. Mary’s’ parking lot. By the fall of 1984, Plowshares rented a former church building at 150 Luce Avenue. There was no kitchen, but local cabinet-makers and craftsmen volunteered their time to create a kitchen. A walk-in refrigerator and freezer were purchased with donations. Plowshares began preparing and serving one hot lunch a day. Soon, other services were available for people experiencing homelessness, including showers, laundry, haircuts, mail service, and personal care items.

In 2001, as Plowshares began to outgrow the Luce Avenue rental facility, plans were made to purchase property, launch a capital campaign, and design and build the current facility at 1346 South State Street. Plowshares endured a five-year capital campaign in which It raised 3 million dollars. Approximately one-third of this amount came from private donations, one-third from foundations and government grants, and one-third from a Community Development Block Grant.

Bob Axt was the architect who worked with Plowshares to draw up the plans for a 6,000-square-foot facility. The building committee also included retired engineer Gary Smith, and board member Jack Daniels. The new facility opened on time and under budget, opening for meal service on January 14, 2008.

Since the Buddy Eller Center homeless shelter, operated by the Ford Street Project, provided showers and laundry at that time, Plowshares discontinued these services to focus on its primary mission: “that no one in our community go hungry.”

The Meals-on-Wheels service, which was taken over for a year (1997-98) from the Ukiah Senior Center and then returned there for a few more years, returned to Plowshares in February 2002 and has continued to expand thanks to generous community support.

In the spring of 2019, Plowshares entered a partnership with the Seventh-Day Adventist Homeless Ministries Group to run the Saturday meals program. In the summer of 2019, we formed a partnership with The Hunger Express and the Interfaith Network of Churches to serve a meal on the last Sunday of every month; in October 2020, we expanded that service to include meals every Sunday.

In 2020, Plowshares (for the first time in its history) started serving meals seven days a week and has continued to stay open 365 days a week, including all holidays.

In 2021, we added solar panels with battery backup.

In May 2023, we expanded the Meals-On-Wheels program to Redwood Valley. Meals are now being delivered on nine routes seven days a week to disabled, homebound seniors. During the summer of 2023, we finished construction, adding a roughly 500-square-foot storage room and upgrading our guest’s bathroom to accommodate the high volume.

Today, with over 100 Volunteers and six staff, Plowshares serves hot, nutritious meals every day, no questions asked, for as many as 100 hungry dining room guests and 200 Senior Meals-On-Wheels recipients, providing roughly 90,000 free meals a year.

A community of people with faith, hope, and concern for their neighbors created Plowshares and continues to be the force that nourishes its growth. Plowshares is grateful for the kindness and generosity that allow the most vulnerable members in the community to be nourished in body and spirit and treated, as its mission statement directs, “with respect, justice, and dignity.”