Mission and Values
Mission
Manna Meal exists to feed people who are hungry. Since 1976, we have offered a free, hot meal to our neighbors in Corktown and across Detroit, as an act of mercy rooted in the Catholic Worker tradition.
Values
Manna Meal is grounded in the following values to guide our actions:
- Radical hospitality — sharing unconditionally what we have with those in need
- Personalism — per Peter Maurin, “The personal obligation of looking after the needs of [each other],” rather than relying on institutions or the state to do so
- Solidarity — remembering our interconnectedness, that “nobody’s free until everybody is free.”
- Simplicity and authenticity — modesty; avoiding materialism, pretense, and growth or innovation for the sake of the superficial or quantitative; solidarity with the poor
- Providence — humbly placing our faith in her to provide the way, relying on each other, on individual voluntary acts and gifts, rather than relying on large fundraising campaigns, endowments, or government funding
- Nonviolence — an active way of life that seeks openness, understanding, and dialogue over coercion, manipulation, and force, to attain the common good. We recognize that hunger and homelessness are not necessary, nor incidental; we, like Pope Francis, ask “what the commandment ‘Thou shall not kill’ means when twenty percent of the world’s population consumes resources at a rate that robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to survive.”
