Community West Foundation Grantee Spotlight: Beyond the Walls Church

Pastor Paul and Cindy Grodell are the founders of Beyond the Walls Church located in Elyria. They are an outreach-based ministry who believes we need to go beyond the walls of the church to meet the needs of the people. The church was founded in 2010 with only seven people in a Bay Village living room. Today, the church occupies a 62,000 sq. ft. former elementary school near downtown Elyria. Their service and ministry is far-reaching and touches the lives of those facing hardship. “The poverty rate within a mile of the church is 54%,” Pastor Paul explained. Like Community West Foundation, Beyond the Walls looks to Matthew 25 to guide their efforts by helping the least of our brothers and sisters in need.

Earlier this month, Community West Foundation provided Beyond the Walls with a $10,000 grant for improvements to their food pantry. During 2020, the first year of the pandemic, Beyond the Walls served 120,000 people through their food distribution. The grant will help purchase supplies and upgrade equipment to help increase capacity. Beyond the Walls is one of the largest partners to Second Harvest Food Bank for food delivery.

They have numerous other ministries including Victory Over Addiction which leads those facing addition through to recovery. As a former heroin addict himself, Pastor Paul wants people to know there is life after addiction. He explained that they have seen many success stories as a result of their program and many times those people return to volunteer. They also provide basic needs boxes to single mothers and seniors that include living essentials such as soap or toilet paper. Probably the biggest gift they provide the community is prayer. “We visit homes on nearby streets and Westway Gardens bringing toiletries and offering prayer,” Pastor Paul said.

What inspires him? “Remembering where I came from and giving people hope,” he reflected. Another effort is their street ministry to help people experiencing homelessness. They visit people on the streets to provide them with basic needs items such as food and clothing. “It’s all very organic. If we see a need, we try to meet the need,” Pastor Paul explained.

The food pantry at Beyond the Walls Church is open to the public every Friday at 4 p.m. For more information, please call 216-903-0963. To learn more about their outreach efforts and ministries, visit www.BeyondtheWallsChurch.com.

For more information, contact Community West Foundation at 440-360-7370 or visit CommunityWestFoundation.org.