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Meet 'Mama Brenda,' who cooks for thousands in Muskegon County

We continue our Black History Month coverage, highlighting the Muskegon Museum of Art’s “Through Our Lens” exhibit. It features Supper House head cook, Mama Brenda.

MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — We continue our Black History Month coverage, highlighting some of the community members being honored in the Muskegon Museum of Art’s “Through Our Lens” exhibit. That includes Supper House head cook, Brenda Coleman, or as most people know her, Mama Brenda.

“Smothered pork chops, homemade mashed potatoes, corn,” is just one example of the hot meals served each night at Supper House in Muskegon Heights, according to Mama Brenda.

She pointed to a colorful display of the Supper House sign, drawn on the wall, saying, “You see it says ‘all are welcome’? Anybody can come through the door and get a hot meal at night.”

Coleman has been with Supper House nearly the last 15 years.

“It’s a rewarding feeling at the end of the day. At this point in my life, it’s not a job anymore. I come to work to do what God wakes me up to do every morning,” said Mama Brenda.

Each night, Supper House feeds a group ranging from 50 people to a few hundred, and it’s been said that the menu can play a big part in the crowd size.

“Now, I’ll tell you a secret now, I cook some of the best chicken – I’m not bragging on myself, but I cook some of the best chicken in the world. So, whether it’s fried, baked, grilled, whatever – as soon as they get here and they know that I’m having chicken, the cell phones come out,” said Mama Brenda as she laughed.

She is the youngest of seven and so she said she “grew up knowing how to cook and knowing how to have big meals.”

She has since become the head of a much larger family.

“A lot of people call me Mama Brenda. So, it just kind of really stuck,” said the cook who further explained that, “I have a ton of kids. I have three of my own but I probably have a thousand kids that know me by Mama Brenda.”

She said, “They come here with their problems, they talk to me, I feed them. You know, if they need something, I point them in the right direction to get it.”

The Muskegon County native is never too far removed from the community she serves.

“We never know what somebody else is dealing with. At a point in time in my life, I could have been in their situation. I could have been coming here bringing my kids to eat a free meal every day. You don’t know the struggles and the stress. There’s a man that comes in every day: Suit, tie, dressed up, dress shoes, but now he’s homeless,” said Mama Brenda.

She said she’s hoping to one day pass the torch.

“More of my role now is a teaching role. I look to find people that are wanting to learn how to cook, wanting to learn to how to prepare for big meals. I’ve been here 14 years and someone needs to take the torch for the next 20.”

Supper House Ministries is made up of 32 participating churches, which help to provide the food and volunteers. They also receive food donations from several supporting businesses.

Still, Mama Brenda said they never turn down donations or volunteers if you feel moved to help their cause.

During Black History Month, Mama Brenda has recently started offering a soul food menu on Friday and Saturday nights.

Throughout the year, meals are served each night, Monday through Saturday. Cookouts are typically offered on summer holidays, as well.

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