I'm
embarrassed to realize that I have no official history of how all
this got started, so here's a brief summary:
A
group of younger adults from Christian Assembly Church in Eagle Rock
began feeding the homeless on a weekly basis some time around 2010. I
was invited to join the group. At that time, dinner generally
consisted of bags of salad combined with pre-made (and then sliced)
fried chicken tenders, tossed with ranch dressing. I managed to
persuade a few members of the group to try their hand at cooking, and
we began bringing food cooked at home.
Initially,
I saw it as a challenge where I gave myself a limit of $20, and based
in part of what others were bringing as well as based on what was on
sale that week at the grocery, I would then figure out recipes to use
the ingredients I had purchased and make dishes that would
supplement. for a while, we were fortunate enough to get donated
frozen pre-grilled chicken which I would thaw and use in various
ways. but for the most part, food and supplies have been funded out
of my own pocket or from the occasional casual donation.
Things
changed dramatically and a lot of people left the group in 2013 when
something rather unexpected happened one night in March; I was
attacked at the park by someone wielding a box cutter who managed to
sever the anterior branch of my carotid. Fortunately I was only four
blocks away from Huntington Hospital, and by keeping pressure on the
wound, I was able to get into surgery about 12 minutes after I'd
gotten stabbed. I was uninsured at the time, but fortunately the
California victim fund intervened and resolved what would have been a
$118k hospital bill. I was in ICU for the better part of a week, but
was back at the park the following week, hoping to carry on business
as usual (in reality, I slept about 14 hours a day for the next
3-4 months), but we as a group never talked about the incident.
I
spent some time dealing with the event and I've blogged a bit about
it online (samstabbed.blogspot.com). The short version is that my
perspective was that this was an act of a person who had been
traumatized by a personal incident or series of incidents, was in
pain and had displaced their anger and I happened to be the target.
Being able to depersonalize the attack had a profound effect on my
ability to avoid taking offense at a lot of things.
I'm
into food, know a bit about the restaurant industry, and I liken what
I do to the concept of the restaurant staff meal where the low man on
the totem pole has to make do with the ingredients he/she has, and
create a meal to feed the staff. but there's more to staff meal than
that, and many a cook has moved on when the staff meal has failed to
provide a sense of community. When people come to dinner, they're
welcome to sit, chat, not have to worry about being harassed by
anyone else there or by the police (who know who I am and are
generally supportive of what I do - even though I have no permit),
etc. It's about creating a place where you can sit down and have a
family-type meal. The food won't be fancy, but it's generally tasty
and nutritious. I'll cut and paste part of a recent email to new
volunteers who started bringing food to the park as well:
1) I
would love to have more volunteers (post quarantine) come regularly
and engage in normal meal conversations with those who stay and eat.
I've come to see this as being very much like daily staff meal at a
restaurant - the meal is a result of whatever ingredients are
available - in my case, on sale at Super King supermarket. But it
still should be tasty, nutritious, and be comforting enough that
people engage in regular conversation at the table. When staff meal
doesn't hit all the buttons, people quit and look for jobs at other
restaurants.
2)
There may come a day where we expand so that it's no longer
practical, but I'd prefer to see relatively little pre-processed
food. It's convenient, no doubt, but I believe they're made to be
addictive, which is an additional burden I'd rather not expose people
to. I get that time is a concern, and I'd like to keep a supply of
items I can offer when we do run out of food, something like
cheese/crackers or peanut butter/crackers.
3) I
choose to keep the meals fairly humble (though one Hispanic told me
my beans are as good as his grandmother's) - we had a source for
frozen pre-grilled chicken that I'd thaw and slice to make a grilled
chicken salad with a lime cilantro dressing, that rivaled what you
might find at local restaurants, but that brought a crowd that
included a local family who'd drive to the park, monopolize the
picnic table. cut in line, eat and go home. I want to minister to the
folks who really don't have any other recourse, and are grateful for
what we serve.
There's
a regular named Daniel with whom you may be familiar. Back in 2017
when I was spending a lot of time at the Pasadena public library,
whenever he saw me, he'd run over to Ralph's buy a bag of beans and a
bag of rice and give it to me at the library; he was perfectly happy
eating beans and rice, and he was willing to donate as long as I
prepared it.
When
I joined, the meal typically consisted of bagged salad, chopped up
pre-made fried chicken tenders and ranch dressing. I encouraged a
number of the guys to start cooking and I provided some simple
recipes. eventually I overheard someone say that the food got a lot
better after that older Asian guy joined the group. that was nice to
hear.
4)
Everyone is welcome, but we set the rules. If people can not show
common courtesy/respect for others, they may receive a meal, but they
must leave and eat elsewhere. I also prefer that people come and get
their meals themselves but I do occasionally allow for people to take
two plates, one for themselves, one for someone else.
Folks
who try to manipulate/game the system (mainly trying to get special
treatment) are to be politely refused. Last week we had someone who
saw an unopened case of water and wanted us to open that pack even
though we had other bottles of water available. When he was told no,
not until the other bottles were given away, he began trying to give
the other bottles away to people who already had water. when I then
put the water in my car. He pouted, said something about showing my
true colors, and left his plate on the sidewalk and left.
We
had a bully try and intimidate me into serving him and his wife.
everyone else got worried he was going to attack me, but when he said
he'd back, I told he'd be welcome, as long as he observed basic rules
of courtesy. He never came back.
For
the most part people are well behaved and pretty respectful,
especially if they've heard how I'm still doing this despite nearly
getting killed by a crazy lady in 2013.
5)
Nutrition/health is a priority, which is why we offer only water in
hot weather, no carbonated beverages. We had one lady who was
seriously diabetic request soft drinks, and one kind-hearted
volunteer bought 4-5 bottles. After that person's initial response:
"what, no juice??!!", that volunteer visibly deflated, and
that same day that lady chugged a half bottle of salad dressing.
To
state it another way, my concern is enabling poor eating habits that
lead or contribute to dis-health of any kind. That's not to say that
we won't offer an occasional indulgence of some sort. but I've had
people ask just for the dessert in the past, and that makes me
concerned. Ditto when it comes to things like pizza and fried chicken
- OK as an occasional indulgence, but to be avoided as a regular
entree. I met one person who used to come to dinner regularly, and he
told me that he'd gained 100 lbs after living on the street, and he
attributed it to all the free pizza and fried chicken that was
typically available. Most of the food available to the homeless are
in the form of massive preprocessed carbs. Hence my emphasis on the
kale salad which has become quite popular.
6)
Everyone who shows up gets a meal. It's more difficult to be fair
when food comes in finite/fixed portions, like a chicken drumstick, a
sandwich, etc. Now people do understand that food is likely to be
gone at 7:30pm when we start serving at 6:45, but the reality is that
most people are not there when we start serving; they tend to wait to
see if we're serving before they become visible.
Later
in the month, most folks who get G.R. (general relief) are tapped out
and more people tend to show up compared to the 1st week. Some groups
don't even offer food the first week of the month because the numbers
tend to drop drastically, but we're committed to every week, though
to be fair I often prepare less the first week of the month,
7) My
meals are typically centered around salad, rice, and some dish that
goes over the rice. Sometimes it's as simple as rice and beans, but
various versions, Cuban/Spanish/Mexican style, or chili. The
rationale is that rice & beans provide the essential amino acids
the body can not produce. The salad has become a litmus test which
gives me some insight into an individual's state of mind.
I
used to make pork chili verde a lot since pork leg at $.99/lb is
quite affordable. ditto with ham after the Christmas holidays/Easter,
but a fair percentage of the homeless choose not to eat pork and will
forego the dish and eat just rice. if I do make it nowadays I also
make beans as a protein source for those who don't eat pork.
Chicken
is also affordable, but unless boneless, we have a problem with
limited number servings. So chicken ends up being a flavoring agent
and served de-boned.
Having
said all this, if there's something you'd want to contribute to
replace/augment/complement what we're doing now, I'd love to hear
about it.
In
cooler weather, my 10 qt electric pressure cooker has been great for
making a lot of chicken soups/ vegetable/noodle/pasta e fagoli, etc.
probably not so practical during the summer months.
I am
all for people being what God made them to be: if you're a baker and
want to contribute dessert, that's great, I am not a baker,
though I found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses
garbanzo beans in place of the cookie dough and mixed in the
chocolate chips. I served them once and no one noticed that I was
giving them protein. that kind of thinking I love to see.
Basically,
I want to serve stuff that's simple but homey: maybe a salad, bean
soup and crusty bread that has the potential to reach people
emotionally. beans and rice is a popular staple in Spanish speaking
countries, I've looked at various ethnic recipes and tried to
duplicates the flavors. I want to emulate an oasis; folks who show up
know that they won't be hassled by other homeless people, by cops
(who know who I am and what I'm doing). A few homeless have told me
that it's as much about having a conversation with a real person
since a lot of the homeless have their issues.
With
the appropriate funding, my long term goals include expanding to
address needs as we discover them through our interactions with
people who come to dinner; we currently serve meals on Tuesday nights
because no one else in the Pasadena area serves food on Tuesdays so
at present we really don't see a need to expand to serving food on
other days as much as looking into hygiene/sanitation options; for
example, most public restrooms close by 8pm (and ever earlier due to
quarantine/curfew impositions). and right now, with the libraries
closed, people have nowhere to recharge their phones. staying
clean and having clean clothes to wear is an issue. the short term
goal is to form strategic partnerships with existing organizations
such as shower of hope which offers free showers at two locations in
the Pasadena area on Wednesdays
Actually,
one of my passions is social dance: ballroom, salsa, swing, tango,
etc. I've danced competitively as well as in a few films and TV
shows. I'd love to get a group of people right after they've showered
and offer a dance lesson as a means of fostering community,
socialization skills, etc. I had once contemplated getting a PhD in
marriage family therapy specializing in using partnered dance
as a means of exploring & communicating relationship concepts.
Working out why a dance move doesn't move might be conflict
resolution at its finest.
So
for now, we turn no one away that wants a meal, and we try to
identify those who want and need the kind of help we can offer, and
the first step is providing a sense of community so that they don't
feel like they're all alone. Hopefully, my example will be meaningful
for those who are bound by fear (and to a large degree,
self-sabotage) and show them that it's possible to make better
choices that will turn out well.
