‘Kindness like wildfire’: This Greenwood pizza parlor gives free pies to Indianapolis' homeless

Corrections and clarifications: This story has been updated to remove an inaccurate quantification of Central Indiana's homeless population. 

The owners of an unassuming pizza parlor in the shadow of the Greenwood Park Mall are hoping to change hearts across Central Indiana, one pie at a time. 

Agapé Pizza, which opened late last year, serves Chicago-style thin crust pizza with a purpose.

Every employee is either homeless or transitioning out of homelessness.

The pizzeria donates 5 percent of its net sales and all of its tips to Tear Down the Walls, a ministry providing services to the homeless.

And twice a month, the owners send dozens of pizzas with outreach workers to help feed people living on the streets.

"We just want to help people," said Angie Wilhelmi, who founded the pizzeria with her husband, Tom.

'It had to be God'

Tom and Angie Wilhelmi never thought they would live in Indianapolis. 

Originally from Chicagoland, 57-year-old Tom is on the tail end of a career in the mortgage business. Angie, 53, retired in 2015 after more than 25 years as an officer with the Burr Ridge (Illinois) Police Department. They took a three-day weekend in 2017 to visit a friend who attends Greenwood Christian Church. 

Within 45 days, they had bought a home and moved south. 

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Later in 2017 they met Tiffany and Brian Walls, founders of Tear Down the Walls Ministries. The Wilhelmis began providing pizzas for the ministry's Bible studies, using the church's commercial kitchen to prepare the meals. 

But their efforts quickly outgrew the space. A friend suggested they open a place of their own, and Tom, who managed his own pizza business decades before, thought they might be up to the task if it meant they could help more people.

The couple set their sights on a former Papa John’s restaurant sitting vacant just east of the Greenwood Park Mall. The plan would be to use the pizza parlor as a way of raising funds for the ministry and providing job opportunities and training to the homeless.

They knew they would need to sell around 33 pizzas a day to break even. They would have to clean and restore the abandoned kitchen. They would have to invest in the equipment, the supplies, the ingredients.  

Were they willing to take the risk?

“At that point, I don’t think we could have said no,” Angie Wilhelmi said. “Because everything that was happening was so crazy and so far out there, that there was only one explanation: It had to be God.” 

Agapé Pizza — the name comes from a Greek word referring to God's love — opened Dec. 6. They have been donating tips, a portion of sales and pizzas to Tear Down the Walls since. 

The children of Italian immigrants — Angie’s parents are Sicilian, Tom’s are German and Italian — they won’t compromise on ingredients. They buy mozzarella and ricotta from the Mancuso Cheese Co. in Joliet, Illinois. They use local fresh produce. They soon will offer sandwiches featuring meats from Smokin’ Barrel Barbeque in Fountain Square.  

The pizza has to be good — that’s what provides the donations. But pizza isn’t really Agapé’s service, Tom said.

“It just happens to be pizza because that’s what we’re good at,” he said. “But what we do is we give friendship and love to those furthest from God that absolutely need to be redeemed.” 

Pizza with a purpose 

For more than 15 years, Tear Down the Walls Ministries has worked with Indianapolis’ homeless population to provide case management services including food, housing, employment training and medical care.  

The organization also partners with residents in the near-northwest neighborhood of King Commons to renovate and remodel run-down buildings and turn abandoned lots into community gardens. 

Ministry members aim to transform neighborhoods and reach out to those that society may sometimes leave behind, said Brian Walls, the organization’s founder and executive director. 

“Providing the tools necessary for them to get back on their own feet is our goal," he said. 

While they consider community development and empowerment to be the primary focus, volunteers still spend several hours each week walking through Downtown Indianapolis and nearby neighborhoods to identify and engage with those experiencing homelessness.  

That's where Agapé Pizza comes in.  

In addition to donating tips and a portion of sales to Tear Down the Walls, volunteer groups assemble in the pizzeria’s modest kitchen every other Saturday to make dozens of pizzas for outreach workers to distribute to those in need of a hot meal. 

That type of outreach allows them to help people in life-or-death situations — physically and spiritually, Brian Walls said.  

“I feel like, you know, that if I can lead somebody to Christ, that might be their ticket to sobriety, their ticket to housing,” he said. “But also, for me, it’s eternal life through Jesus. And that’s one of the most important reasons why we do it and continue to do it.”

‘A little bit of patience, a lot of love’ 

Transitioning from homelessness to regular employment isn’t always easy. 

For people who have spent long stretches of time on the streets — some with addiction or mental health issues — getting back into the rhythm of employment can be difficult. Difficult, Tom said, but not impossible.  

“A little bit of patience, a lot of love can go a long way to bringing these people back," he said, "but it takes time.” 

They hire the misfits, Tom said. Each employee on the payroll has a story, he said, stories that can leave an otherwise jovial man with a wide smile and infectious laugh in tears. 

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They have met addicts. Those currently and formerly homeless that opt to wash dishes because they have seen the Wilhelmis feed their friends. Those with and without relationships with Christ.

“No matter what you believe, no matter what your story is, if you’re ‘not employable,’’ he said, “then we’re gonna give it a shot." 

Chris Weeks has a story.  

The 46-year-old lost his job as a sorter at the former Salvation Army collection center in Beech Grove when the recession hit in 2009. He spent more than four years on the streets, eventually building a shack along the White River near Kentucky Avenue.  

Homelessness was "a nightmare," he said. "And you take it all for granted while you’re happy at home.” 

He said he was “despondent” and “depressed” when he found Tear Down the Walls, which helped him find transitional housing, social services and government benefits, jobs and Bible study.  

He makes $8.25 an hour at Agapé, doing everything from making pizzas to washing dishes to cleaning the shop.  

It’s a far cry from where he was just a few years ago. He credits the ministry with helping him regain his confidence, and he no longer feels like a "second-class citizen."

“I'm a human now," he said. 

A transformation like Weeks’, Tom said, is what it’s all about. 

“Stories like that redeem lives. Redeemed lives are better for our country,” he said. “Redeemed life stories are catching — it creates kindness like wildfire.” 

Softening hearts and changing lives  

Tom and Angie hope to continue expanding their services.

They entered the FedEx Small Business Grant contest, hoping to win one of 10 grants ranging from $15,000 to $50,000. Voting ends April 1, and the Top 100 finalists will be named April 5. 

Cast your vote here: Agapé Pizza serves pizza with a purpose

They could fix a broken conveyor belt in their oven, upgrading them from one working oven to two. Or buy a sign and pay for marketing. 

Eventually, Tom would like to create a friendship program — think Big Brothers Big Sisters — that would pair individuals or families with a person in transition.  

“To be able to communicate with them, be able to provide meals for them once a month or so, give them friendship, take them to a show, for crying out loud,” he said. “You know, just love on them a little bit.” 

In a world where political noise and narcissism can sometimes take over, Tom said it’s important to remember our commonalities as human beings. Everyone has a story to tell. Greet people with kindness. Lend a helping hand. Compassion can spark change. 

“When we can embrace that story and we can amplify that story, then it changes not only the economic fabric of our country, it changes the emotional fabric of our country,” he said. “It’s those tears that soften the heart that keeps us going to the next story, right?” 

“And we can’t walk away from that.” 

Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at 317-444-6156. Follow her on Twitter: @hollyvhays.