It’s Manteca’s busiest coffee shop on a typical Sunday morning dispensing more than 400 lattes, cappuccinos, chai tea, Italian sodas, hot chocolates, and mochas during quick bursts.
But for the next 15 days Calvary Community Church’s coffee shop dubbed “Beyond These Walls” that funds the congregation’s own outreach ministries will open their doors Monday through Saturday until Dec. 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. to help support HOPE Family Shelters.
“We wanted to support another ministry that was having a positive impact on Manteca,” Pastor Joe Brown said.
Under the leadership of Brenda Costa and over volunteers, “Beyond These Walls” will be open to community members seeking an early evening holiday respite or those looking to pick up a good cup of coffee on the go.
“Beyond These Walls” is located at Calvary Church on Lathrop Road midway between Union Road and Main Street. The entrance is just beyond a tall Christmas tree decked with green lights. There is an outdoor patio as well as indoor seating.
Pastor Brown noted those gathered for the tree lighting recently cheered when it was announced proceeds from the extended days for coffee service would go to helping homeless families in the community.
Costa noted several groups have already made arrangements to stop by in the coming evenings to take advantage of “Beyond These Walls” and its offerings.
Prices for coffees are $2.50 and $3. There are more than 30 flavor options.
The help from the Calvary Community coffee house couldn’t have come at a better time for HOPE Ministries that operates three homeless shelters in Manteca. Besides needing to raise 90 percent of its annual $200,000 operating budget from ongoing support from numerous churches including Calvary as well as individuals and other groups, new maintenance needs have surfaced that need to be addressed.
“We are blessed to have Calvary help us,” noted HOPE Ministries Executive Director Cecily Ballungay.
Twenty-three families stay at the three shelters at any given time. The shelters include HOPE Family Shelter on West Yosemite Avenue for families, the Raymus House on Union Road for mothers and children and transitional housing on North Street.
Stays are for between 30 and 90 days. Due to changes to the program in the past year, HOPE Ministries has had a success rate of almost 85 percent in helping place residents who have stayed with them into housing arrangements that they can afford.
Currently, Ballungay noted about half of the parents that stay at the shelters have jobs. HOPE Ministries uses their stay to help sharpen the living skills of residents so they can fare better once they leave. The workshops range from financial and budget education to identifying and dealing with toxic relationships. Those needing jobs are also helped with resumes and such in their job searches.
Ballungay can be contacted at 824.0658.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com