Chapel Outreach Foundation is offering a helping hand on the south side of Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – There is a beacon of faith, love and compassion on the south side of Tallahassee offering a helping hand to anyone in need.

The Chapel Outreach Foundation is a labor of love created for the community by the members of Jacob Chapel Baptist Church.

The foundation provides crucial services and meets the needs of the most vulnerable. Keyerra Wright is a member of the Church and a hairdresser in Tallahassee. She is also a mother who lives in low-income housing.

“No one is ashamed of it. There is no need to be ashamed of getting the help you need,” she said.

For people living in the Bond, Frenchtown and Callen neighborhoods, Jacob Chapel Baptist Church is known as the little church with the big heart. Melinda Harris is the church’s Outreach Coordinator.

In 2024, the church started its nonprofit organization, the Chapel Outreach Foundation, to further their mission. Harris said the foundation focuses on helping low-income, poverty-stricken communities, children and seniors.

“We have a clothes closet, a food bank and a back to school initiative,” she said.

Each resource and initiative meets a critical and growing need in the community. Keyerra Wright said the foundation’s food pantry has been a big help when it comes to feeding her family.

“Because the cost of food has risen so much now, it’s getting to the point where we single moms have to budget for food stamps. So if we run out of supplies throughout the month, that’s where the food supply comes into play,” Wright said.

Foundation President Irish Porter said the resources the nonprofit provides go a long way toward keeping many in the community out of shelters.

“A lot of people can’t afford to go to Goodwill or other thrift stores, so if you don’t have money, you can come here and get dressed for free,” Porter said.

Harris said the organization must now expand as the need for assistance increases.

“People are starving on the south side. You can’t understand the word of Jesus if your stomach is growling,” she said.

From seniors receiving two hot meals every Saturday, to the more than 300 book bags provided to Pineview Elementary School students, and so many other essential resources, there is a small church with a big heart offering hope and healing to an entire community.

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