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Food Pantry and Client Services

7124 Cooley Lake Road,
Waterford MI 48327
Phone: 248.360.2930
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 10am - 4pm

Food Pantry Donation Hours

(located in the rear of the building)
Tuesday-Friday, 10am - 4pm

Thrift Store

7140 Cooley Lake Road,
Waterford MI 48327
Phone: 248.360.4977
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am - 4:30pm
Thursday open late until 7:00pm
Closed Sunday & Monday

Thrift Store Donation Hours

(located in the rear of the building)
Please call ahead to donate
Tuesday-Saturday, 10am - 4pm

Administration Building

7170 Cooley Lake Road,
Waterford, MI 48327
Phone: 248.360.2931
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 10am - 4pm

Need Assistance? 248.360.2930

Donate Now

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Celebrating over 43 Years of Supporting our Community!

Center Facts

  • Our Open Door Outreach Center clothed and fed 7,789 people in 2023
  • 291,419 lbs. of food was distributed in 2023  
    • 2,464 were families and children.  .
    • Seniors and other adults living alone comprise 50% of our food recipients; 26% are families with children.  The remaining 24% are comprised of other non-traditional family groups such as grandparent with grandchildren, a senior and adult child or a couple with children over 18 still at home. The majority of our pantry clients reside in Waterford with 42% calling the community home followed by White Lake
      In 2021:
  • $36,701 of Thrift Store Clothing & Household Items distributed to people in need .
  • $25,735 Crisis Funds to Fix Cars or Stop Eviction.
  • $21,616 Net Profit Thrift Store Sales Back to the Pantry to purchase food.

Mission

Open Door Outreach Center, a 501c-3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization, lives by its mission below:

OUR MISSION

Open Door Outreach Center’s Primary Mission is to Provide Emergency Services of Food, Clothing, and Referral Information to People in Need, While recognizing the Human Dignity of All Persons.

OUR VISION

To provide food, clothing, help, and hope with compassion, fulfilling the commitment to our communities.

Open Door Outreach Center has received GuideStar’s newest and highest level of recognition! By reporting metrics through GuideStar Nonprofit Profile, Open Door organization has a Platinum Seal of Transparency.

 

 

Our Story

Open Door Outreach Center began through White Lake’s St. Patrick’s Church in 1980.  The origin was to partner with denominational and non denominational churches to open the services to all people.  Open Door Outreach Center has had many locations with one in a storefront near the Big Boy restaurant on Cooley Lake Road in Waterford.

The original space with Pantry and Thrift Store to provide funds for the outreach center which included clothing, odds and ends, religious books (Bibles of all faiths), consignment items, food and needed items for clients, jewelry donated for sale. You name it, Open Door had it!

The Open Door Outreach Center Board of Directors originally included a President, Treasurer, and Secretary the first year and then increased members as trustees including local pastors.  The board included seven members for several years, increasing to 10 in recent years and, we're moving closer to 12 welcoming more professional with a passion for their community! 

Client Services existed in the same shop to qualify clients in need to receive food and clothing. Crisis funds were not available in the beginning, but as time went on fundraisers were held to raise more money so Open Door could help clients with shut-off notices and utilities.

Collaboration with local churches for funds was and is a beautiful collaborative help to clients who were facing eviction. The board did not hold monthly meetings in the beginning, but eventually evolved into monthly meetings with a larger Board of Trustees.

Food was distributed at first in filled bags, but then services changed to a “client choice pantry” where the client could shop for their own needed food and items.  Today our Client Choice Food Pantry is very well received by our clients and community and we are proud to be one of the few in the state!   

Vouchers were given to clients to shop in the Thrift Store for clothing and household items they needed.

Seasonal programs were established from the beginning, e.g. Christmas/Holiday Meals, Easter/Spring Meals, Back to School, and Thanksgiving Meals and have continued through the years.

Open Door also has a special Summer Feeding Program to feed the children when they are not in school.

Clothing and food donations began right from the beginning and many of the churches, schools and businesses donate and still donate on a weekly basis with food/clothing/toiletries and more.

Local Bakeries contribute day-old items to Open Door Outreach Food Pantry on a regular basis.   

Fundraisers such as the Julie Run to End Hunger and Annual Tea and Luncheon, the Open Door Thrift's Junk in the Trunk event -held every Father's Day weekend (Saturday) each of these popular events provide revenue.  In 2024 we are adding a Golf Outing in July, details TBD.  Grants are sought on a regular basis from foundations, businesses, government and estates.  

Since its founding, Open Door Outreach Center has grown to include residents not only from White Lake, but also Waterford, West Bloomfield, Commerce, Wolverine Lake, Orchard Lake, Walled Lake, Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake and portions of Wixom.

When people walk in needing crisis assistance, a staff member sits with them to determine their needs and how we can assist.  . Often that involves the need for emergency funds for utility shutoffs, prescriptions or rent. Some are facing eviction. Some are homeless.

Open Door Outreach Center carefully screens all clients to ensure assistance is given to those in the greatest need. We tailor services to meet specific needs, aiding each person to reach self-sufficiency.

Come and visit us - we welcome you.

 

 

CLIENT STORIES

Sometimes just the right referral can mean everything to a client.
Staff recall the day a 76-year-old veteran came into the office. He’d moved to the Waterford area from a Southern state, and was having a hard time getting prescriptions filled.
Staff referred him to a local VFW contact…