The U.S. Census Bureau numbers showed that in 2023, 14.6 percent of Tom Green County’s population lived in poverty, including 16.5 percent of children. That’s more than 17,000 of our neighbors. Rust Street Ministries offers multiple services in order to help those in need in San Angelo and the surrounding area. Year after year, starting with our humble beginnings in 1995, we have either added to or expanded upon the services that we offer. Today, we continue to improve our efforts to bring neighbors together through the services that we provide.
Through partnerships with the local Food Bank (and more recently the San Antonio Food Bank as well), local grocery stores, and generous donations from citizens in our community, we are able to provide food to families on a daily basis. Through the dedication of our staff and volunteers we have been able to expand our efforts to include a dedicated food pantry. The food pantry allows us to provide not only canned goods and dry staples, but also fruits, vegetables, meats, and other perishables.
The Clothe Our Neighbor program allows us to take in new and gently used clothing to give to our neighbors who need them. We currently offer a wide selection of men’s, women’s, children’s, and infant clothing and shoes. The Clothe Your Neighbor program was the natural next step of the original Closet On Wheels.
We believe everyone deserves a safe and comfortable home. We provide household essentials, including kitchen items, small appliances, towels, and bedding to those in need. Thanks to generous donations, we also offer furniture and beds to help families create a warm and stable living space.
The Closet on Wheels, or COW, is our oldest program. The first iteration of Rust Street Ministries consisted of nothing more than an old school buss that was converted into the closet on wheels. We took the COW around to local schools and churches to help clothe the needy.
Today, the COW is a 30ft trailer that serves as a mobile Rust Street that continues to serve area schools. The COW trailer can also be used for immediate response with food and clothing to areas effected by natural disasters.
We work with various community service agencies and organizations in order to connect those in need with programs that will help to improve their quality of life. We have a special connection to Concho Valley Turning Point, which grew out of Rust Street Ministries. Some of the programs Turning Point offers include:
When natural disasters strike the Concho Valley it can often hit the hardest those who can least afford it. In an effort to help people get back on their feet as quickly as possible, we can deploy the COW trailer to disaster areas in need. The mobile COW trailer allows us to provide on-site food and clothing in addition to counseling and spiritual guidance. During the great freeze of February 2021, for example, Rust Street was able to supply blankets to public warming shelters and we opened our doors to distribute more than four tons of food when many local grocery store shelves were still empty. Additionally, the COW has been used as a mobile respite unit for use by firefighters or emergency response teams.
The Garden on Eden was a community garden that was established in order to help support our efforts with Feed Our Neighbor to provide our neighbors with fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables. The land on Loop 306 was sold by the organization that had allowed us to use it, but there are dreams to find another place where the Garden might be reestablished.