In 2008 several believing friends in concert with area churches created Church In The Yard: food and a Sunday service for the homeless in the yard of Holy Trinity Episcopal in Downtown Nashville. Out of that effort, Lambscroft Ministries became an official 501c3. The same year, The Upper Room Shelter began by taking in six homeless individuals biweekly at Woodbine Cumberland Presbyterian Church gymnasium. Eventually the program grew to welcome on average as many as 60 to 110 individuals twice a week, where they received a hot meal and a safe place to sleep. The Upper Room Shelter closed its door August 2015 due to the selling of church property. Currently, we are partnering with Downtown Presbyterian Church for a Saturday morning breakfast for the homeless. Lambscroft also established two “Disciple Houses”, occupied by formerly homeless men seeking spiritual study, community and a renewed life. The three-year dream of opening The Cookery was fulfilled the summer of 2013. The Cookery, in addition to serving coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner and catering to the public, has a greater purpose. In The Cookery kitchen, formerly homeless and incarcerated students are trained and equipped in culinary techniques and food safety in order to prepare them for employment in Nashville’s food industry. “Through all of this God has taught us perseverance, resilience, patience and trust,” says Brett Swayn founder of Lambscroft Ministries. All revenue from The Cookery goes to cover all café expenses and back into Lambscroft Ministries programs to serve Nashville’s homeless.