Breakfast is an important start to everyone’s day

Ronald asks for a hug from a stranger yet offers a wide grin to talk about what’s it is like to live day-by-day as an unhoused neighbor in Kansas City.

We met Ronald one morning eating breakfast at Morning Glory Café, a feeding program run by Harvesters’ partner agency, Morning Glory Ministries. An average of 150 unhoused neighbors line up Monday through Friday at the café in downtown Kansas City, in search of a warm and nutritious meal to start their day. 

“I’ve been coming here for years. I like the food and people,” he says. He appreciates people like Pastor John and Sadie who work with people and help with things like a driver’s license and other needed social services.

What would he do if he didn’t have a warm place to be for breakfast? 

“I’d be starving,” he says. “I be a little sluggish. I’m a big person, I like to eat.”

Ronald, whose nickname is “Major Payne,” a reference to the 1995 family comedy of the same name starring Damon Wayans, “ran the streets” and had been in prison until he “got on the right track.”

Ronald is working with Morning Glory Ministries staff to receive placement with a case worker to find housing.

“I got a lot of love around here,” he says, then smiles at a few friends ribbing him about his willingness to do an interview. “I’m a people person.”

But he’s also interested in chatting about more than his current situation. Some of his favorite topics are like those of many in Kansas City: the Chiefs and Kansas City barbecue.