About Us

Mission Statement

The Open Door exists to serve people at their point of need, cultivating personal growth and community sustainability. Serving those individuals who are homeless and low income. We model our Faith in Jesus by providing practical solutions, to physical, spiritual, and relational brokenness.

Vision Statement

Open Door’s vision is to foster life transformation in a compassionate collaborative community where the marginalized feel safe asking for help, resources are accessible, and all are treated with dignity.

Who We Are

The Open Door Mission started from Ernie Blanchette’s concern for having a shelter in Glens Falls, New York. A feasibility study revealed that a soup kitchen was of more immediate need. The Open Door served its first 13 hot meals from an RV in Peter Shabat’s parking lot off of South Street in Glens Falls on September 5, 1991. When it became too cold to serve outdoors, Peter Mastrangelo (representing Glens Falls National Bank) offered the bank’s Community Room and a storefront on South Street. In October of 1993, Open Door moved to 24 South Street, and from there, to 47 Lawrence Street in 2010. In 2018, the Mission moved into its new and permanent facility at 226 Warren Street as the need for services to meet the growing poverty demands persists in the greater Tricounty region. From our founding in 1991 to today, The Open Door Mission remains focused on meeting the needs of those most vulnerable in our community.

The Mission serves, on average, more than 3,250 meals a month. It also provides temporary sanctuary to those people experiencing homelessness. We opened a 57-bed shelter in the Fall of 2022 to expand our capacity to serve even more people. 226 Warren Street is also the site for Code Blue Shelter, a winter program designed to provide safety and protection from inclement winter weather.

The food shopping pantry provides over 20,000 meals and 254,196 pounds of food to 2,600 individuals and families. The Mission also distributes thousands of pounds of gleaned & other food items to local social service organizations. We also partner with a local school to provide weekend lunches for 64 identified “at-risk” students.

Frontline staff and volunteers serve LifePath Program participants in many ways, helping individuals find and engage with services that support their needs.

The Open Door Mission is a Christian ministry dedicated to reaching out and serving the needs of the people living in poverty. People who access the services of The Open Door experience a friendly, welcoming environment where staff develops meaningful relationships with them until they are stable.

Care is offered to all people, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, creed, or religion. Open Door has a very active cadre of volunteers from many local businesses, agencies, and churches.

The Open Door is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization.  The Mission’s legal, tax-exempt name is Servants of the Word; it legally does business as The Open Door.