When Ellen Ott started feeding people under Highway 281 on San Antonio’s near East Side 35 years ago, she thought it would be easy.

“I mean, how hard is it? But little did I know it was gonna morph into this big deal,” Ott told the San Antonio Report last week. “Who knew we were going to be here this long?”

One year after retiring as a U.S. Army nurse and moving to San Antonio, Ott founded Under the Bridge Inc., a group of volunteers that offers plates of food every Sunday morning.

That first meal in July 1988 — cold pinto beans on white bread with pears and water — fed about 50 people, she recalled. “We didn’t even advertise we were gonna be there.”

Now, about 150 people are served meals each Sunday. The meals range from lasagna, kielbasa sausage, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf and green beans to pizza.

Under the Bridge and other groups like it operated for years under threat of citation for their meal distributions until the City of San Antonio approved an ordinance in 2015 that established rules for charitable feeding events.

Many people who attend the meals are experiencing homelessness, but Under the Bridge welcomes anyone who is hungry, Ott said. “They’re all needy. … They’re people like you and me, but just in a different situation.”

Under the Bridge was recognized Tuesday by the Bexar County Commissioners Court for those 35 years of “invaluable service.”

Ott’s smile was beaming as she held the proclamation alongside Bill and Pam Holler, who took over management of the group in 2012.

“It’s a labor of love,” Bill Holler told the San Antonio Report afterward.

Finding the next bridge

Under the Bridge is entirely funded by private donations from individuals and businesses as well as in-kind supplies and work by rotating teams of volunteers. There are currently nine teams that were organized through churches or community groups such as the Rotary Club of San Antonio Pearl — some are just acquaintances with a desire to serve, Bill Holler said.

Team members typically divvy up large quantities of food to cook and bring to the bridge, he told the San Antonio Report. “Two [trays] a piece, for five cooks, and we’ve got it done. I cooked up six gallons of green beans.”

In a pinch, like when someone forgot it was their Sunday, he said they’ll order pizza. Some teams also bring clothing, hygienic products or other free offerings for guests.

While Under the Bridge has never received a citation for its feeding events, local officials have threatened to write operators tickets that can cost up to $2,000, Bill Holler said. The couple has previously worked with Joan Cheever, who received a citation for her work feeding hungry people downtown. Her citation was ultimately dismissed after she challenged it on the basis of religious freedom and freedom of speech.

The couple rejects the notion that feeding hungry people somehow enables or incentivizes people to be unhoused.

“People come from all over the city” to partake in the meals, he said, including new faces and some he recognizes from years ago.

Some are from out of state, Pam Holler said. “When [Hurricane] Katrina hit, there were a lot of people coming through.”

Like many service providers for low-income and unhoused people, the Covid-19 pandemic halted Under the Bridge’s operations in 2020 — though some volunteers continued to hand out packaged lunches periodically.

In 2021, the Texas Department of Transportation fenced off the parking lot area where Under the Bridge operates because of a growing encampment of people experiencing homelessness. So the group moved its operation to the West Side under the West Commerce Street bridge later that year.

Ott and the Hollers attribute the longevity of Under the Bridge to its consistency: They’ll be there every week, rain or shine — or heat wave.

Fortunately, word of the move has spread to most of their frequent guests, they said.

The Hollers have considered trying to add other services or offerings to their Sunday service, such as medical check-ups or bus passes, but it really depends on who is volunteering, Bill Holler said.

“We don’t have any grants or anything — if we had the money, I wouldn’t know what to do with it,” he said.

“We haven’t needed money.”

“We just need the people,” his wife added.