Feb. 21, 2025
BY JOHN BAILEY
What is the value of a hot dog?
Is it a quick snack?
Is it the start to a lunch break?
Or is it a symbol of hope?
If you’re standing outside the Exodus Dawgs 4 A Cause food truck, it’s definitely hope.
Part of the Exodus Homes vocational training program, Dawgs 4 A Cause offers the agency’s residents another opportunity for work experience – individuals transitioning back into society from treatment centers, institutions and jail.
“When you’re in recovery and somebody gives you a chance and somebody says here man, I’m going to trust you to do this, that helps with all that trauma that they’ve built up over the years being incarcerated, in drug rehabs…it’s like a hope mission,” Daniel Gregory, Exodus Homes Food truck director said.
Exodus Homes, a Catawba County United Way funded partner, has a comprehensive array of services to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of its residents. Exodus Homes currently has 73 beds with 9 program locations, according to its website - https://www.exodushomes.org/. Its key programs include supervised independent living, prison ministry and post incarceration aftercare, family preservation and the Exodus Works vocational training program.
John Beckam, has been at Exodus Homes for nine months and is one of the first Dawgs 4 A Cause employees. His life had become unmanageable, and he knew he had to make a change, so he entered detox which is where he learned about Exodus Homes.
“Every chance I get I let everyone know how grateful I am for this program,” Beckam said. “They don’t shy away from anything as far as God, recovery, education, it’s all here, responsibility, accountability. Exodus brings all that to a person that’s lost their way.”
His co-worker Joseph Hayes is on a path to recovery as well.
“The Exodus program and other outreach programs that give you a second chance helps you want to become a better person and find out who you really are and Exodus has great members to help keep you moving to that destination,” Hayes said.
The main mission of all the Exodus Homes vocational programs is to provide residents with the opportunity to build a resume they can take back into society, according to Gregory.
“They’re gaining life skills, job skills, responsibility and it empowers you.”
Gregory said the support from the community for the food truck has been great and he sees plenty of room for growth. They’ve spent the last few months working out the “kinks” of running Dawgs 4 A Cause and they’re ready for a busy spring and summer.
“What separates our food truck from everyone else is that these aren’t just hot dogs, they’re not just nachos. As you eat these, you’re also filling your soul because you know that these hot dogs and these nachos are providing hope for somebody who’s been marginalized and disenfranchised in the world,” Gregory said.
Find out where the Dawgs 4 A Cause food truck will be next at https://www.facebook.com/exodushomes.
Or call Gregory at 828-324-4870.
Learn more about the mission of Exodus Homes visit - https://www.exodushomes.org/,
In the photos - Top (from left): Exodus Homes residents and Dawgs 4A Cause food truck workers Joseph Hayes and John Beckam.
Bottom (from left) Joseph Hayes, John Beckam and Daniel Gregory, Exodus Homes Food truck director.
Catawba County United Way Photos