Season 2 Episode 10-24 Families and Food Insecurity Guest: Chairwoman Nora Vargas
In this episode of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, we are joined by County Supervisor Chair Nora Vargas to discuss the critical issues of food insecurity and homelessness affecting children and families in San Diego. Supervisor Vargas, a champion for the well-being of vulnerable populations, shares her insights on how local leaders and organizations like Father Joe’s Villages are working together to provide essential support through shelter and meal programs. We explore how Father Joe’s Villages serves nearly a million meals annually and offers emergency food assistance every Friday, as well as the importance of the upcoming Thanksgiving 5K, which raises funds for these vital food programs. Tune in to learn how you can make a difference in the fight against hunger and homelessness.
Podcast Transcript: Families & Food Insecurity
welcome back I’m Maggie the host of neighbors helping neighbors the podcast from father Joe’s Villages a Beacon of
Hope for 75 years this is a continuing Series where we explore homelessness its
causes and solutions to the issue our guests include experts and leaders in this space people with lived experience
and unique perspectives on homelessness if you’d like to learn more about our mission visit us at neighbor.org and
follow us on social media at father Joe’s Villages today we’re exploring our
meeting basic needs pillar of care most notably our food programs and services
as well as shelter and how they affect and benefit Children and Families experiencing homelessness we have a
distinguished guest with us today chair of the County Board of Supervisors Nora Vargas and with me as always is Deacon
Jim my co-host and the president and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages welcome both of
you sh Vargus thank you for joining thank you for being here we’ve been excited about today by I’m excited to be here too please take a moment to
introduce yourselves well um my name is Nora Vargas I’m the chair of the Sano County Board of Supervisors I have the
privilege of being the first Latina first woman of color firsta uh in the 200 years of the County
of San Diego and so it’s truly an honor to me for me to serve district one is the county the district that I represent
and um I also have the honor and privilege of serving as the chair of sandag the S Association of governments
and uh the governor’s appointed to carp the California a resources board which when people say well you know you you
wear a lot of hats you’re chair of everything and I said well the good news about that is that for the first time you have government entities talking to
each other because I happen to be shairing all of them so it works out really well that’s really great yeah
great happy to be here well thank you by the way I’m also very proud since I’m a Latino I’m very proud that you’re in the
position thank you thank you for all you’ve been doing uh to date and I pray for that that that continue right so
thank you for that thank you and as Maggie said I’m Deacon Jim and I always like to take an opportunity just to explain the comprehensiveness of our
programs because sometimes we have new listeners and new viewers so it’s good for them to know and as Maggie mentioned we’re entering our 75th year right this
is we’re gonna have a great celebration next year but we we we’ve been doing it for 75 years you know 365 days a year
situations become even Graver on the street unfortunately and so we’re there we’re there with our comprehensive
service is we we have a federally qualified health center right and it has Primary Care in addition to that we have
our substance use Clinic we have a behavioral health clinic and mental and
psychiatric clinicians we have a dental clinic within that we started Street Health as the chair knows so we started
that in 2019 in fact that was recognized in the recent months by by the Board of Supervisors and I appreciate that as a
model for for the community at large and we’re very we’re very pleased with that and it’s been it’s that’s that’s grown
tremendously we now now have three vans that go out five days a week morning and afternoon right with the not only
clinicians but Outreach workers as well so it’s been saving a lot of lives actually and then in addition to that
we’ll be we’re gearing up to um establish a detox center we know that in
the county the 78 detox BS two of which are in the city of San Diego and with God’s help and always to his glory we
hope to have one established by um by the end of the first quarter of next year adding 44 more bets into that
compliment which is really fantastic it’s going to save lives and then recovery and sober living Debs as well that will support that population and
then in addition to that we have our as Maggie mentioned the meals that we serve a million meals a year breakfast lunch
and dinner our two dining rooms and just basic things like shelter the almost thousand beds that we have shelter on a
nightly basis to um that that’s that line that safety line that we that we we
have available for those who are on the streets each and every single night employment employment is very important we know that with employment
there comes um income and with income there’s self-sufficiency right so we have a vocational training in various
disciplines and and that’s extended to our community as well and then we have our therapeutic Childcare Center we’re
going to be focusing on families and children I know that’s near and dear to your heart so I’m excited about having
that conversation um in addition to that we know that housing is really what breaks the cycle of homelessness so we
have our turning the key initiative introducing 2,000 affordable housing units into the market either through
through the acquisition and refurbishment of motels or just new construction right so we have you
remember um chair Vargas St Tes of kakata villa you’ve tore that you tore that and I appreciate your time there
407 homes right the largest of its kind for our population we have five more I don’t know if I’ve if I’ve caught you up
on the fact that we have five more in the pipeline that’s amazing that’s another another about uh 250 beds
actually that will make available throughout those five and we’ll be venturing into Oceanside so two of those
five will now be in Ocean Side so we’re working we’re working diligently on that that breaks the cycle of homelessness
right because we know all the other shelter beds are good we need to get people off the streets immedi we don’t have enough of them um and start working
with people and applying their services but at the end of the day we need those those that housing that’s what really
breaks the cycle of homelessness so anyway so that’s a worldwin of what we do right and we’re blessed to be able to
do it each and every single day and I’ve always appreciated your support in in our endeavors you’re welcome you’re
welcome chair Vargas Deacon mentioned you’ve been a strong advocate for children and families for some time can
you tell us about what inspires your passion for this cause um you know I was as I was
thinking about um the work that I have the honor and privilege of doing every day I think about how the truth is is I
was very privileged as a you know growing up I grew up in Tiana I think some people know that I grew up in Tiana
on the other side of the border and uh I grew up in a family where you know my parents made it so that I never had to
worry about anything right and so I was very blessed and they had the tools to
be able to provide um you know a roof over our head food and opportunities to
have fun and I grew up in a bubble thinking that everybody was having the
same experience and it wasn’t until a little bit later when I um as I was growing up to realize I went to public
schools in Tiana all my life but I never realized that there were so many kids you know that also had a lot of
challenges and and so I think as I was growing up I started seeing that not
everybody had the same opportunities and not everyone was experiencing what I was experiencing and so uh to me I think
that’s what really has motivated me to be engaged in public service and to do
the work that I do every day particularly with children when I was at Southwestern College and I was a trustee
at Southwestern College um it I started really trying to better understand
um so many of our students being unsheltered and we created a policy where we you know approved so that
people could take showers in in our in our gym that we had just built and you
know trying to think about what else could we do but then as I started digging deeper I realized a lot of of
our young students didn’t have access to food either so we started the Jack kitchen it was the brilliant idea of
Staff members I supported it as a board member but you know it was it was really looking at you know really meeting
people where they’re at and really understanding and having conversations with the community members um that what
when we think about homelessness and when we think about unsheltered populations we think about the folks that are on the streets and the people
when you you know when you go to a ball game or things of that nature but there’s a whole bunch of other folks
that are behind the scenes that people don’t know right like the thousands of kids that are at Willow Elementary in
sanro who are unsheltered um and who we don’t you know we don’t even know and we
don’t see because they’re sleeping at ant’s house or their you know they from one place to another in their car and so
that really to me started really being a of concern and what else could we do to
make it better because we are the fourth or fifth largest economy in the world as
a state and to me it’s shameful that a child would go to sleep hungry
Or Without Shelter I think Isa we have failed our kids when we
allow that to happen and so anything that I can do to be able to change that I it continues to be my top priority and
when I started digging into the work that the county was doing at the time the county was beginning to change in
terms of the work that it was taking place and this is about five or six six years ago seven years ago but there’s so
much that needed to be done and so I felt that I can bring a very different perspective um to really begin to tackle
these issues from a different place we were sending money back when it came to Cal fresh money that was coming from the
federal government and we weren’t and the answer that I always got was well well you know we’re doing outrage but
you know people don’t want it well because people don’t trust government and because government many times people
don’t look like the people you know and and people are fearful because they come from other places where they might feel
that you know they’re scared and so I think the you know the Outreach and the
Community Connection is so important for us to be able to do that and so um it’s been it’s been really wonderful to be
able to be there in the last four years and see how we’ve able to transition that and there’s so much to be done you
know you use a term that I use quite often Maggie knows that instead meeting people where they are right I mean not
expecting them just to come into us or or or to fit their needs in just a cookie cutter approach that doesn’t
always work I mean we think about that congregate settings the congregate settings are not for everyone they’re not for families right we need to
accommodate families and and units right because that’s more conducive to their health and their wellbeing and being
able to to move forward and it’s just so many of those examples um have to do
with meeting when them where they are let’s evaluate what is it that you need right these are the services that we have and how can we best apply them to
be effective in your life right well and there’s so much stigma right there’s so much stigma around
poverty there’s stigma around mental health the stigma around all these issues that people aren’t poor because
they want to be poor people are not you know homeless because they want to be
homeless and you keep hearing all this nonsense from folks and if you really think about it and you really start
getting to know folks who are experien experiencing uh being unsheltered every
person you know each one of them is a human being with a story and I’ve heard
folks who have told me right like you know it took 10 times for somebody to reach out to me and it was finally when
I felt like somebody gave me some love that I figured it out and then I was able to connect or other folks that said
like I was so embarrassed because I didn’t want anybody to know in my family that I was going through this difficult thing because then they think I don’t
know how to manage my money or so there’s so many experiences but for some reason as Society we’ve decided that
everybody who’s un shelter just fits into this one box right and I’m happy to share with you that today you know I did
a today’s um Thursday and we did a press conference uh to highlight the work that
we’re doing around KT right and we were all everybody was a little skeptical
about what care Court would do or wouldn’t do and out of the over 200 folks that have um you know been gone
through this process 71 of them have actually now you know have been served
and you know it’s a partnership between the county and San Diego Behavioral Health Team they’re case managers and
public defenders and they have a unit that’s specifically for focusing on this and then also the judges right and what
they said today was it was only with collaboration and compassion can we get this done and I think that’s what we
can’t forget and I think that’s what father Joe’s has been doing for such a long time for 75 years and I think for a
long long time we’ve we’ve thought or believed that government can be compassionate that government is just
sort of transactional and we like check check check and what I remind County
team because we have a fabulous County team you know 20,000 employees who all of them got into public service for a
reason right and it’s just reminding them that we can make a difference and we need to continue to think outside the
box about how we help people and yes we’ve never done something before but
but it’s okay we got to figure it out together right right that’s right just because we’ve done it a certain way in
the past right you’re absolutely right and with um you know people you’re mentioning this these the stigma the
preconceived notions of individuals I also he like you as you mentioned that or people want to be on the streets
right the reality is when you get to know them and you find out why they feel that way right and maybe they’ve been
victims of domestic violence right maybe they’re have PTSD maybe they’re claustrophobic whatever it is so if
you’re able then to address their their situations then you’re able to draw them
in you’re able to draw them in not only to shelter but then to other services and that’s when they can move forward I have to tell you that one of my favorite
stories in the last I I try to keep track of these stories because again we’re talking about real human beings
right and and I like sharing the stories you know the veteran program that was started that we were able to expand
right we I think are at over a thousand people who are former veterans uh who
were homeless or unsheltered and who are now now have permanent housing and one
of the gentlemen that I met at the beginning he said to me you know Miss Vargus I get to I have my cat with me uh
he says I get to wash my clothes I get to make my own food and I get to
have a great life and then number one I REM remind myself how much we take things for granted of all the things
that we all do every day that we take oh I gotta go wash my dishes I gotta go to and for this gentleman having the uh
autonomy to be able to do that right he was a former veteran who had had ptsc who had been in a difficult place you
know work with real estate u local real estate folks to be able to get him a
space and he’s in housing and to me it’s like the dignity that comes with that right and how he talked about it and I’m
like how is it that in a again you know folks who have fought for us who have
been on the front lines to make sure that we have the freedoms that we have would be on the streets like that is
just to me not what we should be doing as government or as communities and so
those kinds of programs I think give me hope U for the work that we can do and the Partnerships that we can have to
make sure that people are house permanently that’s exciting and there’s always hope and that’s that’s extremely
important because I think a lot of times people are are lose hope right appear to be hopeless and I mean I I get asked by
by the media more often than not now don’t don’t you go over don’t you get overwhelmed no don’t you wonder whether
you’re making a real difference right and you know that never occurs to me I don’t have time to be overwhelmed right we don’t have time to be overwhelmed I
mean the reality is that we’re making a difference in people’s lives each and every single day yeah um do are they
some that’re more challenging than others absolutely are the numbers getting worse you know you’ve heard the
statistic that and over the last 30 months each and every single month more people are falling onto the streets than
are being helped into housing that’s sobering right but that that’s not that shouldn’t overwhelm us what that should
mean that we’re called to action that means we need to do more what what do we do then to stop that H almost right and
I also think that if you think about you know because we hear about there’s more people out there well how much is that
actually people now feel comfortable coming out and talking about it right doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist before I think sometimes we just assume
right and like you know we do the point and count we do all of these different we have systems and databases to count
folks but the truth is is that government really truly is changing now right you have a county that is wanting
to work in partnership with community and and with organizations you have each of the Cities right you know I convened
the 18 cities um after we declared homeless this a public Healthcare crisis in the county and and you know bringing
in 18 cities and it was I love the fact that it was nonpartisan right everybody came with their own political background
and what they thought about things but in the end we put politics aside we came
together and we thought okay what could we do what’s not working what’s working and you know there’s some things that we were just going to have differences on
on whether or not uh you know we should have sober living at all times or not
there’s just philosophical questions that you know issues that you know maybe do cut AC cut across um po what is it
party lines but in the end I think we all wanted one thing and that’s to make sure that people were housed and that
they were safe and that they were able to be treated with dignity and so we were able to find some opportunities to
work together and I think that’s the greatest lesson of all right that yes there’s a lot of differences that we
have even across party lines but in the end we can find commonalities to get things done and if we all continue to
focus that way we can actually you know do what we’re supposed to do which is
you know help our communities what would you say is making it difficult for families to thrive in San Diego and
maybe fall into homelessness you know I think it’s the cost of living cost of living is so expensive the economy um
you know jobs and opportunities haven’t kept up with the needs right I mean I think when I first became a supervisor I
was meeting with the director of Health and Human Services and he says what is the biggest issue like why are you why
did you run for office why are you doing this and I said because I want to eradicate poverty he said he looked at me like
okay and I said look I know I’m not supposed to say that out loud right I’m saying it here now four years later because I feel comfortable enough to say
that that we should be talking about that more that people should not be in poverty not in the fourth or fifth largest economy in the world and we got
to figure this out together right what does that look like and how do we make sure that people have you know um
trajectories to be able to succeed and even have conversations about Building Wealth all sorts of different things but
in the end uh to me it’s it’s the cost of living is so expensive and and you
know salaries are not where they need to be for folks and it’s not keeping up even if you think about our seniors
right we have in district one for instance the you’re going to have H you know people who are older than 55 which
I’m almost there are going to be the highest uh number of folks in my district by the year
2030 and you know how many you know Social Security doesn’t keep up with with inflation at
the way that it should and and it was never meant to be a retirement system or a retirement plan but people really
don’t have are not able to you know save up for retirement and so the largest number of population right now that we
have right increasing continues to be senior citizens and to me
like um how do we let that happen and how do we build housing like you know
the I was just at a grand opening for the Mac project and they did uh an opening where they part they did a
public private partnership and it’s going to be affordable housing and a couple of the folks in that housing unit
I think it’s going to be 101 um um homes and it’s really beautiful which I think
to me is the most important thing right is it somewhere where people actually have feel like the dignity and great
place to live but in addition to that um some of the homes were targeted specifically for folks who had been
unsheltered they’re going to have wraparound services and they’re going to have people who live from affordable
housing you know who who are at the lower income levels and help them to get out of there so that other people can
come in later to me I think that’s exactly what we need to be doing right because I think we can focus so much on
the actual problem but I think how do we bring Solutions it’s not just building more houses right I mean I don’t want to
get all geeky on you and talking about Arena numbers and all that good stuff right and the mandates that we have from the state
but we continue to build more luxxury homes and we’re not building enough affordable or middle inome homes right
and when you think about what that looks like I mean how is it possible that we’re asking people to rent a place for
$3,000 a month right right how do we how how does that even happen right and so
you know many of our families are living you know two or three families together where you know people are making do
where they can and then I think the other part that we don’t talk a lot about is that because we are and the binational community and the Border a
lot of people get to go live in Tijuana right I always talk to folks about this
I say you know if we didn’t have the bational community the Border our numbers were for unsheltered populations
would probably be as high as Los Angeles and San Francisco because think about brilliant how many hours people are
spending now at the border across the border every day and we have about 200,000 people who go back and forth
every day who live and work in the United States right and they are those are people who are lucky enough to be
able to go back and forth every day um and so they’re living in Tijuana because
it’s less expensive people who work for the county live in Tijuana right and so
I think um as a region we have to think about how do we have housing that it’s
actually affordable you know um eggs are expensive everything is expensive and so
I think with programs like we have in the county I think we help supp ment that right so like the food programs are
so important and we’ve had a lot of conversations after Co about making sure that it’s culturally appropriate food
right don’t give somebody something that they would never eat because then it’s like you know I want to really get
figure out a way to get away from that whole process of people having to stand in line to get food with the SNAP
benefits or yeah like you know just like you know oh we have food to give out this weekend or whatever and people have to stand in long lines to get food like
we did during Co I’m like just shouldn’t be that way you know I want refrigerators and corner and
like food and things of that nature so I know I can’t do that but you know well but no but you bring up excellent points
and I mean there’s been a 100% increase in families that have fallen into homelessness right when we consider the
point in time count year on year right I mean think about that I mean the number of families you mentioned seniors absolutely that more seniors and are
aging out and and the seniors especially when they’ve been chronically on the street I mean first of they age faster
they age 20 years f faster right biologically and then their the issues become even more more astute right and
and chronic and so how do we how do we address that I mean we’re finding that the that the Aging population actually
need it needs help with convalescence with recuperative care with even hospice
yes right so that’s we’ve been giving that more and more thought here at father Joe’s villag just as to how we
can meet that need because that’s an never growing need we’ve been seeing it now over the last year or so right and
even more more so so that’s something that we have in our mind as well I love that you’re thinking about it because one of the homes that I visited um some
of the folks said to me we need to change the rules in the state around udw and the and the folks who take care of
of people because if you’re in an unsheltered Place usually the person is designated to a specific area versus
being able to just be for instance in a let’s say an a uh unsheltered you know
housing unit or something to be able to help people uh so I think that’s where I think policy has to keep up with the
times where at the state level and the local level and we haven’t done that much you know I took care of my dad with
my sisters and my brother when he was very very very sick it was four years ago and he passed in 2022 but those were
like really really tough years where you know he he was getting dialysis and he
was um having to go in and out of hospitals and you know I had the flexibility even though I was
campaigning and running for off doing all these different things my sister happens to be a doctor so she actually
you know we have that expertise at home but that was those are the things that I keep thinking about I’m like we have the
resources and the tools we know how to speak the language and we are having a hard time I can’t imagine others so I’m
really grateful that you’re you’re thinking about that and when you think about seniors and you think about all of
these it’s really looking at people from a holistic weate right right it’s not just meeting people where they’re at but looking at people from a holistic way so
you know having for instance uh we know that we had families that had been fighting for decades to get free
Transportation they say I’m not supposed to call it that but it really is free Transportation free public transportation in the county of Sanu
these um you know seoras and students were fighting for for 11 years they kept saying no no no no no we had arpa
funding we were able to um lead the efforts in the county and then in my role as chair of siand we were able to
combine it so now every young person in the county of San Diego under 18 gets to get free Transportation right and they
have been we started as a pilot program which is the other thing that I’ve learned about government pilot programs are the best and then you know now we
have this ability to do that so how do we do that with seniors that’s my other goal right because in the end if they
want to go work if they want to go to a cultural center if they want to just get to basic food and needs they need
Transportation right absolutely and so you know $40 $20 that’s expensive for
people right that means that you can buy bread and and you know milk and may you
know maybe go eat a taco if you want to right I mean I I I think we need to bring back you know the opportunity of even if you
don’t have a lot of resources it has to be dignity in it and one of the other programs that we did through arpa was
ensuring that we supplemented um senior’s income and we saw that with that amount of money it really changed
their lives right and my big thing behind that was I don’t want us to tell you what to
do with that money you should be able to know what you need to do with that money and like I said if you want to go buy at
a restaurant something why shouldn’t you be able to be you only only rich people get to go eat at a restaurant you know
what I mean it has to you you should be able to be have opportunities to do
whatever you want to do quality of life quity of life exactly you’re right you’re right mean the Homeless Coalition
in the last number of months put out a statistic which is very startling and very so sobering here in in San Diego
25% of individuals are either food insecure or indoor housing is secure right 25%
that includes children that includes families right families I reference before that are falling onto the streets
that’s a that’s a big number when you think about 25% that’s for our population our that’s
750,000 individuals that’s suff for some level food insecurity we see it know you mentioned you know people having to come
up to a food line or whatever we have we have cars actually here at this location we have on every Friday we have hand
boxes of fresh produce and and so forth non perishables and the line of cars has
grown over time I mean that’s again an indication that people are are needing
this support we’re happy and blessed be would to provided but we should be able to do
better as as a community and and that’s to your point now families I know you wanted to to bring us back to the
question yes I’d love to hear about the programs in the county that are specific to Children and Families Are any
interesting initiatives that you’ve implemented I think the housing or youth program is one that I think is really
powerful because it allows you know access for young people to be able to have homes right and I think that’s
really important I think being able to have programs like cell works and and um Cal fresh programs that like I said we
were meeting we were leaving money at the table before and now actually being able to get people the resources that
they need is very powerful and very important and they continue to be a priority um I think uh our foster youth
have been hugely impacted right um through Co and through each one of these programs and uh there’s been some
changes in the structure of the County of San Diego and how we make sure we’re addressing um just Children and Youth
and and being able to prioritize them and more importantly they’re part of the solution now right they are at the table
saying this is what worked for me this is what not did not work for me how do we move forward and I think that has
changed in the county because in the County it wasn’t like that before and I think that you’ve seen that transformation in the last four years um
and I think we need to keep going in that direction you’re empowering them how about it father chose Villages
can you tell us about the Family Programs and the Food Services absolutely and I I referenced the
therapeutic Chast Center and that’s a the one of the critical programs that we
have for our children in particular are there our house within that within the therap CH Center I mean we mean you
think about the fact that the kids who come to us are academically emotionally socially delayed that they’re four times
more apt to be homeless as adults right we have to mitigate those circumstances so that sensor works with these kids I
mean and the wonderful thing about about the children is that there’s all resilience you provide the right level
of resources and the compassion and love you were referring to that before right it’s it it always warms my heart to see
how they how they bounce back so we have a preschool program there and focus is just on that so providing the resources
such as language therapy that they need speech therapy all right what they need in order to be able to keep up with
their peers once they are of school age they go off to their respective schools but then you know we give them the
support that they need um after school programs and like mentoring and tutoring and so forth and working with their
families as well building familial relationships because a lot of these parents don’t know how to parent necessarily so just working on on those
aspects as well you mentioned the forer youth I mean we we we support the transitional age youth which you you
know from 18 to 24 and they typically have come from Force care system right they lose the support about age 18 and a
lot of them fall onto the streets right and so um we’re we’re blessed to be able to work with them as well and it’s you
know there we we’re helping individuals apply for college as these are these are
kids these are children who are smart right these are youth are smart what they need is this level of support to be
able to excel I remember and this is a few years ago um we had um someone by
the name of David who went through through through the program and he wound up at UCLA and doing a PhD I love that
don’t you love that I love that I mean these again you these are individuals who have you if truly if you give them
the opportunity they can Excel and that’s what they need to your to your point they need that opportunity to be
able to Excel and they do it I mean we don’t do it for them and they do it right they you just tap in into that
potential so there’s just various ways that we provide the um the support but in this past year you know over a
thousand children we’ve served you know across almost 600 fames Ames right so
and and the need has been growing we see it day in and day out and and I think you know I failed to mention that our
first five program is one that is such an important program that the county services that the county provides
because they’re working directly with schools with parents with you know um
providers and and it’s really I think at an early age being able to identify what
are the needs and you know basic you meeting their basic needs but also right
if young people need to be diagnosed children need to be diagnosed being able to get them the services that they need
um and again it goes back to think about the issue of poverty right if you come from a family where you can have access
to health care those uh um needs that you may have can be met very quickly
because you have access to resources sometimes in many of our families because people don’t have
access to Medical Care Etc they just end up in situations where if they would
have had just basic the basic needs met from the beginning
they would have different opportunities and I think you know I always think about the fact that you know I’m bilingual and to me that’s being that’s
a superpower right I speak English and Spanish and Spanglish but um I always
tell folks right I if it wasn’t for the fact that I was able to master these two
languages and be able to uh communicate and have conversations and all that for anybody else it could have been a
deficit right but somehow along the way I was able to be in programs and and get
the resources that I needed so that I no longer had to translate everything from English to Spanish instead actually just
getting it done and so that’s a simple example of how programs can actually
help people and and really help them succeed as they move forward and then you I think the most important piece is
that you end up being able to get back absolutely the community as a whole becomes healthier and that’s what that’s
what it’s all about the education I mean you mentioned poverty eradicating poverty yes we be eradicating poverty
and one way to do that is really to focus on education absolutely is I know my parents who who came from the island
from Puerto Rico back in the early 50s they didn’t have much education but they instilled in us that that was the way
out of poverty right and they were all right right so we have so that’s you know when we think of the kids we have
to focus on that with it’s a preschool as I mentioned when they go off to school um various schools it’s providing
the support that they need instilling in them a sense that that is the way out of poverty right because then they
then they can be the Davis of the world who are going for their PHD at UCLA right and isn’t that great yeah it’s
clear that collaboration is absolutely needed through preventative and empowering programs and through
resources and meeting people where they are to make the community as a whole healthier yeah I like I shared with you
earlier you know today I I heard um someone one of the um case workers say you know you need care and compassion
and coordination and it’s and resources and that’s and that’s I think um how you make government work for people and that’s
the only way you can build stronger and healthier communities right you really have to think about all the different components find where our commonalities
are and keep pushing forward because our communities deserve better and I think that we’re in a good place to do that I
love this I wish I had another hour to pick your brain that just means we have toite you back back anytime before we
leave what would you like to make your call to action to the community what would you like community members to do
to get involved I would say that you know that in order for government to work for all um I would like to
encourage everyone to be engaged and participate in the process uh sometimes I know that it’s hard to believe in
government when things are hard but um government can really really really do good things for people and uh the
programs and the services that we provide are there for that to help alleviate uh a person’s situation during
the challenging times and this is your money this is your resources please use
them because we want you to be you know successful we want you to have a good quality of life for you and your family
right everybody wonderful Deon quality action well I always ask people to have
compassion you reference compassion so when you see someone who’s on the streets don’t don’t just assume that
it’s their fault that they’re on the street right recognize that the people have different circumstances right and
there I always like the expression there before the grace of God go I right I mean anything can happen we have
teachers and we have engineers and lawyers who wind up needing our services as an example right so because things
happen in in in their lives so that’s number one I ask people to to Really as a call to action there but and also to
come and and join with us join forces with with us at father Joe’s villages in so many ways we volunteers last year we
we had over 5,000 volunteers all right their servic is equates to more than almost $2 million actually can you
imagine so the power of volunteering we we have retail stores you know at the retail stores we have people who we pick
up household goods each and every single day preset appointments people’s homes and then we take those goods with as
furniture or or boats or cars or whatever they are and we have auction them off or sell them at our at our
retail locations right and so great merchandise good pricing so it’s a it’s a win-win people can who can donate
people who can purchase there as well donations I mean most of our the work that we do comes through philanthropy
the vast majority comes through the generosity of the listeners and the viewers um who will be be be listening
to us today and so there’s that aspect as well there’s so many ways in which people can get involved the key is get
involved yes all right this is the number one priority and situation here in in San
Diego think about it homelessness as you say in in such a rich society as ours how can how can that’s a travesty right
so get involved be part of the solution and come to the 5K come to the 5K thank
you we have our supervisor come to our 5K we have this is uh with the oldest 5K
uh Thanksgiving morning basically I know I’ve done it a many times I us do it in hiding because sometimes I don’t know if
I’m going to run fast enough or not and you can walk you can walk you know people bring their dogs and they dress them up like turkeys and whatever and so
but it’s important because that talk about meals that benefits our meals that the millon meals that we serve um on a
yearly basis the proceeds go to help def Fray th those course there and it’s just a lot of fun you can burn off the
calories before you you you consume them in the evening and most importantly it’s a way of showing hey you know I’m
blessed and and I recognize that not everyone is as blessed and here I am gives me an opportunity to give back so
yes we will have by the way we’ll start we start bright and early with mass in bour park six o’clock and we’ll have
three of our Bishops there with us um that’s amazing and so it is amazing so way not everyone comes to the mass and
it’s not required but the mass is a great way of kicking it off and then we go off and have fun yes maybe
my family to make it a family thing yes yes yes absolutely well thank you so much ter varus it was wonderful having
you and thank you Deacon oh it’s a pleasure than you for having me honestly thank you so much and for all you do
I’ll keep you in my prayers keep at it until the thank you and thank you for
joining in today Father Joe’s Villages has been a Beacon of Hope for 75 years
and we’re not just a service provider we’re a movement and a catalyst for change join us on our next episode as we
again bring the conversation to you on more important issues and solutions as ultimately we’re all neighbors helping
neighbors see you next time God bless you thank you how will you get involved
join us and take action for our neighbors in need father Joe’s Villages is rebuilding lives and you can make a
difference whether it’s through cash donations volunteering your time contributing HomeGoods or clothing
shopping at our thrift stores or online or participating in planned giving there are numerous ways to get involved take
action today at neighbor.org because together we are all neighbors helping neighbors
