‘Compassion meets action’ at Capital’s Community Center

April 28, 2025

We are so grateful for all our community partners who actively share our mission – to eliminate food insecurity in Delaware – through purposeful outreach to our neighbors in need.

Some pantries, like the Capital School District’s Community Center, serve a niche population: homeless students and families within the district.

It’s tucked inside the Solid Rock Church’s Community Outreach Center on North Street in Dover, and through a partnership with the church is able to meet additional basic needs as well.

Rod Fesel, the district’s Truancy & Education Officer for grades K-6, is all too familiar with people who struggle to survive. He works directly with the 382 unhoused students in the district, those who fall under the jurisdiction of the McKinney-Vento Act. He also an attendance officer and the district’s foster liaison. He knows firsthand that families dealing with homelessness need food, clothing, a place to wash their clothes, access to technology – the list is long.

The center is open by appointment only on Mondays and Thursdays. Fesel explained it CARES Act funds — a federal economic stimulus bill called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that included payments to individuals as well as state and local governments — were used to help start up the facility. The district rents from the church, then upgraded and restored the building to provide services for families experiencing homelessness.

So, in addition to the well-stocked food pantry, the clothing closet offers students to select clothing. “Not gently worn. It has to be new. I don’t want it if it doesn’t have tags,” said Fesel, explaining that donations – new shoes, socks, jackets — come from community organizations, like Noble’s Pond residents, north of Dover, as well as online giving through the Puposity app, and from corporate donors as well.

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a room with a half dozen computers serve as Solid Rock Testing Center. “And it’s usually full,” said Fesel who said the computers offer over an opportunity to earn over 2,000 certifications, plus the GED. “It’s jammed,” he added, noting that often there are grant funds to cover the testing fees.

The food pantry offers space to store household cleaning items and personal hygiene supplies in addition to shelf stable, frozen and refrigerated food. Students may also receive weekend meals, or backpacks, through the Food Bank. ”We are very blessed by the Harry K Foundation,” added Fesel. “There is truly a need.”

The center also houses an upgraded kitchen, built with an eye to the future. One day, it may serve as a soup kitchen, Fesel explained. The day after the interview, Fesel drove to the Food Bank’s Milford facility to pick up 70 holiday meal boxes – plus a Perdue roasting chicken – that went out to students and families for their holiday dinner celebration.

William Grimes, the church’s pastor, agrees that the collaborative effort to serve the homelessness extends beyond meeting immediate needs. “We are truly grateful for this opportunity to serve. This partnership is a testament to what can happen when compassion meets action. Together with Capital School District and the Food Bank of Delaware, we are not just meeting needs—we are sowing seeds of hope. Every meal and every resource remind our students that they are seen, valued, and deeply loved. It is an honor to stand in the gap for our most vulnerable, knowing that through unity, we build a stronger future.”