Free Dinner Respite For Many
Wilma Williamson never expected to eat at the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant.
But Thursday she was back for the second time, slowly dipping her spoon into a bowl of pea soup.
It was the first time she’d eaten in two days.
“I haven’t always been in these circumstances. I’m just kind of going through a hard time now,” she said.
Women like Williamson have kept the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant running for nearly a decade.
With welfare reform in force and benefits being cut, the restaurant is serving more meals than ever.
Some nights, 60 women and children fill the tables downstairs at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church on North Monroe Street.
“The free restaurant started as a place for women to escape traumatic relationships and have a peaceful meal without an abusive man looming over her,” said Peg De Vries, president of the restaurant board.
“We no longer focus solely on abused women. Now we are a food source and safe place for women and children to eat,” said De Vries.
The restaurant has served meals in the church since 1988, but is a separate non-profit organization funded mostly through a grant from “Women Helping Women.”
All women and children are welcome, there’s no screening process, nothing to sign.
“It’s more than a place for them to meet their nutritional needs. It also a chance to socialize, to take a break and not have to worry about things,” said De Vries.
After 10 years, the restaurant runs at top efficiency. Meals are served on Tuesday and Thursday. Sandra Willis, the cook, shops at the Spokane Food Bank, then comes in early to start kettles of spaghetti sauce, stew or homemade soup.
By 5 p.m. the tables are set by volunteers from the church, sororities or women’s clubs.
Food is on the table within another 10 minutes.
On a recent evening, bowls of split pea soup were passed, followed by baskets of warm bread and plates of corn on the cob and butter.
“It helps us stretch the budget” said Carol Walter, who eats at the restaurant each week. “We have to do all the stretching we can.”
Bouncing children, hungry for their dinner, are suddenly silent as they attack the cobs of corn dripping with butter.
Then comes dessert.
Williamson helps herself to a large piece of white cake with colorful sprinkles on the icing.
She shares the frustration of looking for work with other women at the table.
“When you’re over a half-century old, they seem to think it’s all right to put you out to pasture,” she said. Williamson was employed until October, when the company she was working for went out of business.
She said she has a degree in horticulture, and brushed up on her computer skills at Interface Computer College.
“I’d be perfectly happy going back to work in an office,” said Williamson.
By 5:45 p.m., Willis is out of the kitchen and has settled at one of the tables to chat with the women as they finish dessert.
Her English accent, faded after years in America, is still soft and warming.
“Sandra is a great, no-nonsense, matter-of-fact woman who donates to the community in this way,” said De Vries.
But, Willis said she is simply giving back to the community that helped her when times were tough.
When the restaurant first opened, she often came with her two small children, long before she started cooking here.
Her husband worked the night shift.
“It was a chance for me to eat with adults and also help make the wages go a little farther,” she said.
A few minutes before 6 p.m., the women and children begin to leave. One stops and pats Willis on the shoulder warmly.
“Thank you, that was great. I had two bowls,” she said.
By 6:10 p.m., the last dish is washed and put away.
The diners are beginning to leave thanking Willis for the meal.
“It’s my pleasure. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it,” she said.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Where to go The Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant, located at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 1620 N. Monroe, serves free dinners on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:15 and 5:45 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.