Warm meals served up at Fresno's Poverello House on Christmas Day

Hundreds received the gift of a homemade meal on Christmas Day at the Poverello House in Fresno.

"It's dog eat dog out there. Everybody for themselves. But as they come in here it's more of a fraternity we all come together in one spot. It's pretty cool," said Luke Dodd, a Poverello House guest.

Hundreds of people including children and families facing homelessness and poverty gathered at the Poverello House on Christmas Day.

All of them were able to sit down and enjoy a warm meal.

The kitchen cooking up some holiday classics, Pozole, a special item on the menu just for Christmas.

"It's kind of like going to grandma's house. We have our guests our friends come down here to have a good meal. We had breakfast this morning, we have a lunch. We had added a special to the menu, pozole. Yesterday we did tamales, to bring tradition back to our guest. We want to make them feel like they're at home coming down here," said Paul Stack, the chief of operations Officer at Poverello House.

This is the first year the holiday was celebrated inside the new Papa Mike's Cafe.

Guests are able to come in, choose from several options, order at the window, then sit down at a table and be served.

"When you've got nothing out there, you come here and you feel like you've got something," said Dodd.

Each meal is a labor of love prepared days in advance by Chef Shawn Gillette and his team.

Over 300 pounds of beef and thousands of chilis went into making the pozole.

For Chef Shawn, it's gratifying.

He was able to turn his life around from being incarcerated and once living in the shelter, to a line cook, and now a leader in the kitchen.

"I was real selfish for a long time. I was only concerned for myself. So, to see the joy that people get on their face. They get the option of choosing from different types of menu items also as a traditional meal, you know and a lot of people love it, almost like everyone says that they really liked the meal," said Shawn Gillette, a Poverello House chef.

The slogan for the cafe: 'where dignity is the main course.' On a day centered around love and hope, no one was forgotten.

"A lot of the guests they don't get to feel so happy all the time you know because of the way they choose to live you know, but when they come in here, we try to make them feel happy to make them feel welcome," said Gillette.

The Poverello House is in need of volunteers especially during the holidays.

To donate or sign up to volunteer, click here.

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