The address -- 144 East Eighth Ave., Homestead -- used to be that of the Four Seasons Restaurant. Back then -- the 1950s through 1970s -- the mills were open, and Homestead was thriving. The Seasons was open 24 hours a day, ready to feed any steelworker getting off any shift.

But when the mills closed in the early 1980s, so did the Four Seasons. So did most other businesses in town. What opened along the main drag of what was once the steel capital of the world, was the Rainbow Kitchen.

What began as a temporary aid for newly unemployed mill workers is now celebrating 25 years of service. Several years ago, it moved to Ninth Avenue.

It began with locals Bob Anderson, originally from Georgia; Theresa Chalich, who was then his wife; and Dolores Patrick, a Homestead native.

While working with the Steel Valley Authority to figure out how to reopen the mills, "we noticed ... that people were asking for food. The need was food," recalled Ms. Chalich, 63, a Johnstown native now living in Squirrel Hill.

So the trio took to the streets, selling hoagies, collecting money and asking for grocery donations. In June 1984, with a $9,515 grant from the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese plus $1,500 in community donations, the Rainbow Kitchen was born. More than 300 people signed up the first day.

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At 6 a.m. Oct. 16, Rocco Gallucci began his day as chef at Rainbow Kitchen. He is responsible for feeding about 200 people, sometimes more, sometimes less, every day. Half of those are children, members of the Kitchen's Kids Cafe program. The rest are men and women who come to the Kitchen every weekday between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. for breakfast.

Today's "breakfast" will be a styrofoam plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, bun, steamed broccoli, salad and lemonade. Pastries -- muffins, mostly -- will be placed at the end of the cafeteria-style service. Clients will take those first, then circle back for the spaghetti.

Mr. Gallucci tries to greet each by name as they take a plate.

"Jim, how ya' doing? I was getting worried about you," he said. "Broccoli?"

In return for his ladling of kindness and cooking, clients sing his praises. One claims he invented pizza.

"Rocco, if I wasn't the man I am, I'd ask you to marry me," one admirer said.

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The kitchen got its name from civil rights activist Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition. It was a rough start. The first winter it opened, the operating budget, or what remained of the initial grant and donation money, was so tight that volunteers and staff were forced to keep the lights off during nonmeal hours, and calls were limited. The heat was kept so low that sometimes the pipes burst.

"We were broke, stone broke. I remember standing in front of Mellon Bank with a can so we could buy paint," Ms. Chalich said.

Despite the money shortage, the Kitchen began serving hot breakfast for kids before school. By January 1985, dinner for 100 people was served three nights a week, and some 400 families got two bags of groceries twice a month.

But the Kitchen founders weren't content to just feed people.

"It wasn't going to be just a soup kitchen where we give away charity. We wanted people to become 'empowered.' We wanted people to register to vote, to run for office," Ms. Chalich said.

She and Mr. Anderson always had a "tinge" of politics.

"When I was [with] the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, I thought I was going to do some feminist thing with the wives [of unemployed steelworkers]," she said.

Instead, Ms. Chalich, a registered nurse, was met with women little interested in feminism but distraught over no longer having health care coverage. So health care coverage became been her primary concern, and she has lobbied for universal health care while running clinics ever since.

Mr. Anderson had worked at U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock. He was laid off in 1982. Supported by his wife's job, he was able to turn his attention to the Rainbow Kitchen and Homestead Unemployment Center.

In 1986, he began fighting to save homes of local residents from foreclosure. His clients included elderly people, former steelworkers now making less money and young families.

Mr. Anderson could not be reached for comment for this story.

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It's getting harder to greet everyone by name; more and more people show up every day, Mr. Gallucci said as he cooked.

When he started working at Rainbow Kitchen two years ago, he recalled that he served 35 to 55 people a day. Now, it's 80 to 100.

Now, as before, clients must meet income eligibility guidelines, which are determined by a percentage of the federal poverty rate and based on household income relative to household size.

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Most of the Kitchen's food comes from the Greater Pittsburgh Area Food Bank. Funds come from a mix of private donations, foundation grants, fundraising and government funding.

Executive Director Donna Little said last week that the Kitchen has been serving an increasing number of people.

"Last month, September, the pantry went from serving 135 households in a month to serving 175 households in a month," she said.

By Oct. 16, the food pantry already had served 170 households.

"We're seeing an awful lot of people coming in. Normally, we know that this is around the time we're going to see an increase because it's getting cold ... but it's never been this high. We're serving more people now than we did at our very peak holiday winter months in the past," she said.

In addition to offering breakfast, the Kids Cafe program and a walk-through style food pantry, Rainbow Kitchen delivers bags of groceries to elderly and handicapped people in Homestead Apartments. Starting in November, the Kitchen will do the same for Munhall Retirement Apartments.

"It's really worrisome to think about if we're seeing this huge increase right now, what's going to happen when all the normal things that cause an increase kick in?" Ms. Little said.

"We shouldn't even have to be here. We want to work ourselves out of business," Mr. Anderson said. "We never thought we'd be open this long." He made that remark in a 1988 newspaper article, four years after starting the Kitchen.

Founders recall that some neighbors didn't want the Kitchen, especially in so visible a spot along Eighth Avenue. Some believed that Rainbow Kitchen gave Homestead a negative image. And, indeed, the site was occasionally cited for offenses, such as littering after putting used clothing and books out on the sidewalk.

The kitchen gradually moved away from its political roots. Mr. Anderson left in 1990, citing burnout and health problems. Ms. Chalich ran and lost her race for state Legislature that year and instead opened the Rainbow Clinic, which she operated until 1998.

Programs, such as Writers in the Kitchen and a day care service, came and went as needs rose and fell. In 1998, the kitchen moved from its spot on Eighth Avenue to a newer, larger building at 135 E. Ninth Ave.

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Out in the cafeteria, Robert Roskoski sat alone, slowly working his way through a plate of spaghetti.

"The meals are delicious," he said.

Mr. Roskoski, 71, a native of West Homestead, has been coming here for about five years.

"A friend said, 'C'mon, let's go down to Rainbow.' So I started coming here," he said.

He was in the military for 22 years and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. Between food stamps, the Rainbow Kitchen's food pantry program and daily breakfast, he gets by.

"Bless Uncle Sam. He looks after us," he said.

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"It's been 25 years and we'd love to be able to be celebrating with this anniversary that our services aren't needed anymore," Executive Director Donna Little said last week. "But they are. And they always will be."

For details on services and volunteer opportunities, visit www.rainbowkitchen.org or call 412-464-1892.

The Rainbow Kitchen is selling CDs of a 1992 benefit concert. They are available at the Kitchen for $10.

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