Pictured: Rebecca Packard (‘27), Naomi Staudenheimer (‘26), Ryan Stites (‘29), Samuel Peterson (‘28), Davin Stafford (‘28), Jordon Staudenheimer (‘27) prepare to distribute items.
By: Bella Cloeter (‘27)
For the last year, senior pre-seminary student Jordon Staudenheimer has been visiting the largest homeless camp in the Twin Cities, Pig’s Eye Lake, to distribute essentials to the residents there. At the beginning of August, though, the camp was shut down and residents moved to another camp off Randolph Ave. Since August, the Randolph Ave homeless encampment has grown significantly in size. More than 420 people now live there, and the need has grown with them.
This is where the New Freedom Store comes in. Jordon has been joining a ministry, called the New Freedom Store, that collects and distributes necessities to the homeless. Jim Seemann, a former co-chair of the theatre department at Concordia University, St. Paul, founded the ministry. With a background in prison ministry, Seemann said he has learned to see the needs of people who are often overlooked. For the past six years, he has gathered and handed out essentials with the help of volunteers like Jordon.
As Jordon says, “he has a heart and drive to really bring about a life of transforming ministry. A ministry that has the goal to transform lives.”
Passionate about this work, Jordon has recruited fellow Concordia University, St. Paul students to volunteer with The New Freedom Store, where they hand out food, water, blankets, sleeping bags, and tents, along with any other items they can procure, such as hygiene kits and medical kits. With winter approaching, the need for cold-weather gear is growing, including coats, hats, gloves, mittens, and socks. Plummeting temperatures make daily life even harder for those without shelter, warmth, and sometimes even food.
Donations are collected and stored at Jehovah Lutheran Church. Bulkier items, such as blankets and coats, have been gathered all summer and are now being distributed as temperatures begin to drop. In early October, Concordia St. Paul hosted the Minnesota South District Youth Day, where attendees from across the district assembled more than 400 snack, hygiene, and first aid kits on campus for this ministry.
Once items are ready, they are transported from Jehovah Lutheran to Jim’s house and then on to the camp. About twice a week, volunteers load the supplies into their vehicles, drive to the trailhead, and cart them down to the camp. With more volunteers, the supplies are unloaded and handed out more quickly, and residents line up to receive them.
Most people will usually grab the items and go. Others stop to talk. “We do talk and have conversations, and we offer to pray,” Jordon said. The New Freedom Store is more than a supply run. Volunteers are not testing residents or having them prove that they are trying to improve their lives. “We’re just giving, indiscriminately giving,” says Jordon.
Jordon remembers a moment he met a man there whom he prayed with. After they prayed, he noticed the man was crying. Jordon hugged him. This moment encapsulates the humble service and compassion that drives the New Freedom Store. Getting out of homelessness takes more than just shelter. It requires consistent transportation and stable income, all while still trying to get basic necessities. Most volunteers have never had to start from nothing, and that should shape how people serve. “Really making sure we have compassion, realize what these people are going through,” Jordon said. “It’s just really important.”
“So if remembrance of the poor is such on the forefront of the minds of the apostles to the Jews and the apostles to the Gentiles… then how can it not be on the forefront of our minds as well?” Jordon said. This remembrance isn’t an idea. It looks like a truck loaded with coats headed down to Randolph Ave.
Pre-Deaconess Student Rebecca Packard (‘27) prays with one of the residents at the homeless encampment.