When money is tight and a meal, a shower, or a safe place to sleep feels out of reach, Minneapolis families often find their way to one address: 525 North 7th Street. Sharing and Caring Hands has served people experiencing poverty and homelessness in the Twin Cities for decades, offering food, clothing, dental care, and housing support with no appointment and no judgment. If you or someone you love needs help today, here’s what the organization offers and how to connect with it.
What Is Sharing and Caring Hands?
Founded by Mary Jo Copeland, Sharing and Caring Hands is a Minneapolis nonprofit built on a simple mission: help the needy and serve the poor, no questions asked. The organization runs its day center out of a single building on Glenwood Avenue in Minneapolis, where thousands of people each month come for a hot meal, clean clothes, or a listening ear. Over the years it has grown from a small storefront ministry into one of the most relied-upon emergency resources in the Twin Cities, known for turning no one away.
Services Offered
According to Sharing and Caring Hands’ own day services page, the organization provides:
- Hot meals — serving roughly 3,000 meals a week, over 157,000 a year, to people in need.
- A free clothing closet stocked with clothing for adults and children.
- A free dental clinic offering extractions and fillings on a first-come, first-served basis for people with little or no dental coverage.
- Showers and basic hygiene supplies.
- Financial and job-search assistance, including help with resumes and connecting to employment.
- Case management and mentoring to help visitors work toward longer-term stability.
- Mary’s Place, a 100-unit transitional housing program for homeless families with children.
Inside Mary’s Place
Mary’s Place is Sharing and Caring Hands’ transitional housing program, built to keep families with children off the street and out of shelters while they work toward permanent housing. The building’s roughly 100 apartments can house more than 600 people at a time. On-site, families have access to a free laundry facility, classrooms where volunteer tutors help kids with schoolwork Monday through Wednesday, a computer room, activity and play rooms, meeting spaces, a chapel, and an on-site medical clinic — all designed so parents can stabilize their housing without losing access to the other supports their family needs.
Hours and How to Get Help
Sharing and Caring Hands’ day services are open Monday through Thursday, and closed Friday through Sunday. Based on the organization’s contact page and current listings, you can expect:
- Day services and meals: Monday–Thursday, mornings through mid-afternoon (hot meals are typically served around 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.).
- Address: 525 North 7th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55405.
- Phone: (612) 338-4640.
No appointment is required for meals, clothing, or showers — you can simply show up during open hours. For dental care or housing at Mary’s Place, calling ahead or asking staff on-site about current availability is the best way to get connected quickly, since demand for these services is high. If you’re arriving for the first time, staff can walk you through what’s available that day and help direct you to the right service, whether that’s the meal line, the clothing closet, or a conversation about longer-term housing options.
Who Sharing and Caring Hands Serves
The organization serves anyone facing poverty, homelessness, or a sudden financial crisis — individuals, seniors, and families with children. Mary’s Place specifically supports families with kids who have nowhere else to stay, giving them a stable apartment while they work toward permanent housing rather than cycling through emergency shelters.
How Hues Hope Can Help You Take the Next Step
Sharing and Caring Hands is one of the strongest emergency resources in Minneapolis, but it’s often just one piece of a bigger plan toward stability. Hues Hope can help you find additional support nearby, including food resources, housing resources, household item assistance, and financial assistance programs across the Twin Cities.
The Bottom Line
Nobody should have to face hunger, poverty, or homelessness alone, and Sharing and Caring Hands has spent decades making sure that in Minneapolis, they don’t have to. Whether you need a meal today or a longer-term path toward housing, walking through the doors at 525 North 7th Street — or calling ahead — is a real, practical first step. Help is there, and it’s free.