In the fall of 2010, ten individuals in a small group of a local church decided that it was time to do something rather than meet each week and have discussions. The group observed that there was a concentration of homeless individuals in the downtown area of Springfield. Further investigation revealed that there were a number of places where the homeless could spend time during the day and places where they could be housed at night.
What was obvious was there was no place for them to spend time during the late afternoon/early evening hours. It was during these hours that most of the homeless would be on the street especially downtown.
The Gathering Tree has been involved in various ways of helping the homeless in the downtown area of Springfield. As a result of this experience and in an attempt to focus on a few specific challenges that are not addressed by other entities, The Gathering Tree closed its drop-in center on November 1, 2018, to concentrate all of its resources and efforts on Eden Village, a solution to solving homelessness.