Darryl Willis has been stranded in Pittsburgh for about eight months now. A Florida native, he ended up here after his girlfriend of many years kicked him out of the house they shared in Fort Myers.

Now, Mr. Willis, 46, is one of the many homeless people who depend on emergency shelters such as the Light of Life Rescue Mission on the North Side for a bed and a meal. Yesterday, he was one of about 1,000 people the shelter served Easter dinner as part of its Samaritan Ministries.

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1952, Light of Life operates a number of programs targeted towards addressing hunger, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction and unemployment, among other social ills.

The three-story brick mission at the corner of East North Avenue and Boyle Street -- an emergency shelter and soup kitchen-- was where many of the city's needy gathered from 2 to 6 p.m. yesterday.

A small Christian band, Voice of the Bride, performed in a lounge where people congregated before being seated to one of three dining tables for a meal of ham or fish, spiced applesauce, au gratin potatoes, peas, dinner roll and fruit pies.

"On Good Friday, this is what it's all about. To show people that someone cares about them. That they are welcome and that they can come and find joy with others," said Beth Healey, a spokeswoman for the North Side mission.

The mission's North Avenue emergency shelter houses 22 men in its basement living quarters every night and 12 men in the upstairs quarters for which they have to be enrolled in a three-month case management program designed to help them become independent.

Citing the impact of the economic recession on many households in the region, Ms. Healey said the mission is seeing more and more people in all of its service programs, and "that is why our Samaritan programs like Easter dinner are really important."

In addition, the mission, which is mostly funded by private donations, partnered with the North Shore Community Alliance to provide Easter dinner at the Limbach Community Center in East Allegheny and at 12 other locations around the city, primarily high-rise apartment complexes for the elderly.