An early Thanksgiving celebration for the unhoused and those in need

From the moment they walked in, Nacho, Francisco, Antonio and Alex were laughing and talking as if they knew each other from a long time ago. But they had just met while standing in a line waiting to get their breakfast on Wednesday morning.

Once at their table, they enjoyed their cup of coffee and a warm meal, forgetting for a moment that they are either unhoused or without a job. Their conversation was loud and playful at times.

Their servers were not waiters but volunteers, and their table was at the Annual Thanksgiving breakfast celebration hosted by St. Francis Center, an organization that helps the unhoused and extremely low-income people. 

“We have come to get food other days. What else can we ask for, if [food] is the most important thing,” said Nacho. “Right now I’m not working, but when there is an opportunity I work as a carpenter.”

Francisco, the prankster of the group, kept asking for salsa and spicy food. 

“I have been in the United States for 40 years and I come here sometimes. They always help me,” he said. 

Alex and Antonio work in construction, but work has been so slow that they are currently working about a day per week. 

Antonio said he was grateful for the opportunity to receive a warm meal during difficult times. 

At another table Miguel was enjoying his meal while listening to his headphones. He said he waited for about an hour to go in but he was grateful to be able to be part of the feast. He said he has a place to live but since May he has been working only about a day a week.

“Because of the situation with [the Trump administration] the company where I worked laid off everyone and now I don’t really have a job,” he said. 

Damian Cabot, spokesperson for St. Francis, said that last year they served about 370 meals and this year they were expecting to serve about the same amount. This was a full Thanksgiving dinner for breakfast, which included turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and the fixings. 

“It’s a very popular event, we serve a sit down meal and we also give them a meal to go,” Cabot said. 

A help that goes beyond a meal

Azze “Jesus” Crawford, another guest at the feast, said he has been receiving the help from the center since 2019. One day, he saw there was a line and he stood there. He then realized he could receive food, clothes and even medical attention. 

On Wednesday, he said he was very grateful to receive a warm meal and the good attention from volunteers. 

“There are never any complaints. They have always helped me since I’ve been around,” he said. 

Karen Vallecillo, director of development at St. Francis, said the center has been serving the community for over 50 years not just with food but also providing showers, clean clothes and access to laundry services so they can wash their own clothes if needed.

“The hope is that as people come in, they build trust with us and then they can ask for the help they need,” she said. 

Vallecillo said it is often that people are homeless not because they want to, but for several reasons, like mental health issues, or lack the means to get a place to live or have had bad experiences at shelters.

“So our goal is to provide a safe environment where they can come and eat, and ask for the things they need,” she said. 

They are also partnering with Clinica Romero, a local clinic that provides medical services and prescription glasses.  

Donations are always welcome

Cabot said the center is fundraising all the time and has also created partnerships with local food banks, CostCo, Trader Joe’s and Target and other businesses that donate food. The donations are to purchase food that is needed. For example, on Tuesday they had a turkey giveaway where they spent over $8,000, and for the Thanksgiving breakfast they spent about $3,000 to buy what wasn’t donated. 

The center has a small staff and relies heavily on its volunteers. Therefore they are always in need of extra hands as they have food distribution for low income families four times a week and breakfast for the unhoused five times a week. 

“Every day we give about 220 boxes of food to families,” Cabot said. “We need at least 10 volunteers for the breakfast and about 10 to15 for the food pantry.”

On special occasions such as the Thanksgiving breakfast, St. Francis has at least 25 volunteers. 

Individuals and business entities can make a monetary donation by visiting their webpage.