January 2026 | 7
Toledo Ministry Center Meets Physical Needs with the Gospel in Mind For the last 30 years, Southside Life Station has been a fixture in Toledo, sharing the gospel and providing com - passion ministries to those in need. Pastor Dan Stevenson has been a vital presence at Life Station for half of those 30 years. a month, praying with them, giving them their groceries, and encouraging them,” Stevenson said. Community members can also take advantage of the Life Station clothing pantry. By Stephanie Heading, managing editor
“They can get up to two outfits per member of their house - hold,” he said. “We have additional supplies that go along – blankets, coats, hats, and gloves. We don’t always have those, but usually we do, and they are able to get one per member of the household.” Wraparound services, designed to improve health and wellness, are also available to the community. These pro- grams include an employment program and a three-class nutrition and food-safety training program. Members in the food and nutrition classes take a quiz at the beginning of the course to assess their knowledge of food safety and nutrition. “Their scores before the training are just atrocious,” Ste- venson said. “They don’t know the food groups. They don’t know how many ounces of food is a serving. They don’t know how to clean a counter. They don’t understand cross-contamination or how to thaw meat.” Following the first two classes, quiz scores have dramat - ically improved. “So we know we’re having an impact on people’s lifestyle, and the way they house, prepare, and serve their food.” In addition to the employment program and the nutrition and food safety classes, Life Station has an active en- couragement program, which includes “encouragement calls” that go out to 1600 people, with another 100+ on the waiting list. “The encouragement call is based on one or two verses of the Bible, and it’s just me saying, ‘You’re receiving this call because you opted to be encouraged.’ Then I talk about the verse, and if there’s a few seconds left at the end, I’ll encourage them to get in a local church if they’re not doing that, or occasionally, I’ll share the gospel and ask people to be saved,” he said. Since the encouragement call program started, over 300,000 phone calls have been sent out. Stevenson says the calls have impacted senior adults and those who struggle with anxiety, depression, or mental health con- cerns. Life Station also sponsors a texting program, a cell phone app, and a podcast for clients. Expanded programming requires increased manpower that includes both volunteer and paid workers. “Life Station actually employs seven full-time employees, and then we have two part-time employees,” Stevenson
Stevenson, who also is the pastor of New Heights Fellow- ship Baptist Church, Toledo, first volunteered at Life Sta - tion at the request of the previous director and developed a passion for the mission, the clients, and the gospel im- pact of Southside Life Station in Toledo. Not long after Stevenson’s arrival, the director left, and the Northwest Ohio Baptist Association considered clos- ing the ministry. But Stevenson stepped in. “I said, ‘Well, you know, I feel kind of passionate about this. I think we ought to keep it going,’” he recalled. Talk of closing the ministry ceased, and since then, Life Station has been operating with Stevenson as its director. “The first month that we went there, we helped maybe six to ten families with emergency food, because rumors had circulated that Life Station was going to close,” he recalled. “As soon as the rumors were quashed, the next month we had 60 families, and it steadily grew from there.” The organization has expanded the services it offers, and currently, approximately 1600 clients are served monthly. In addition to its largest service, emergency feeding, Life Station added driver delivery service for clients who have specific needs that prohibit them from picking up food at the center. It is the only foodbank in Toledo to offer driver delivery services to its clients, and the program has had a positive impact. “The drivers are literally showing up on their porches once
Southside Life Station Director Dan Stevenson keeps track of clients on a map of Toledo. Nearly every street in the city is home to someone who receives services from Southside Life Station's ministries.
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