CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A Cleveland restaurant is providing meals and clothing to people who have been living in Tremont’s Scranton Cemetery for months.
Guanaquitas, located on West 25th Street, is owned by Blanca Hernandez.
It is a family-run business, including her daughter Nancy, who manages the restaurant.
The family-run restaurant has been delivering food nearly daily to the cemetery residents as temperatures have dropped through fall and winter.
“A lot of people are looking for food and knock at a door, and nobody opens, so that’s why I decided to open my own,” Blanca Hernandez said.
Daily deliveries and community support
The Hernandez family began taking action when dozens of people started living in the cemetery.
Nancy Hernandez said her mother’s approach to helping others shaped the restaurant’s mission.
“We usually help out the neighbors around here who are homeless,” Nancy Hernandez said. “We just started hauling food over there because that’s the kind of person my mom is, she just wants to feed everybody.”
The family also delivers unused clothing to cemetery residents.
The family has even involved their church in the effort.
“It’s just how my mom raised me,” Nancy Hernandez said.
Housing questions remain
A handful of people are still living in the cemetery during winter conditions.
19 News reached out to the city, which directed 19 News to the county, explaining that the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services would be the lead agency on the situation in the cemetery.
That agency can provide resources, including seasonal shelters.
19 News has reached out to the county to find out more about the people moved out of the cemetery and the plan for the few remaining people there.
Blanca Hernandez says she would love to see the folks in need in her neighborhood off the street someday.
“Getting a house, just for them, that’s my dream,” she said.
Hernandez says if you want to help, swing by the restaurant with coats and winter clothing, and staff members will get it delivered to people living in Scranton Cemetery.
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