LJCC's Homeless Ministry
Every weekday of the year, Monday through Friday, a team member meets The Salvation Army Homeless Outreach Team at Mariner's Point. Team members purchase (from their own funds) and serve a full lunch since there is no meal provided at the beach. This population is the most underserved in San Diego as there are no community resources readily available to them. Each week there are more new faces. The team serves an average of 40 people per day. As summer approaches, the numbers will increase. We are looking for additional team members to assist a team member each weekday.
At Christmastime, a large group enjoyed a ham dinner complete with multiple sides as well as dessert. Everyone received a new blanket, hooded sweatshirt and pair of socks. The recipients were also happy to receive gently used clothing. The Christmas event cost $2,000. The funding is dependent solely on donations by LJCC members, any team fundraiser and a portion of the LJCC rummage sale proceeds when held. We had three successful fundraisers: a brunch in July, a bake sale in February and an opportunity drawing in November and December for hand-knit afghans, Chinese watercolor and several other wonderful prizes.
Our team always gratefully accepts donations of clothing and all types of items falling under the categories of bed and bath, hygiene and fast food cards as well as monetary donations. We also welcome cases of individually packaged and ready to eat food items to hand out at the beach. Items include, but are not limited to, Vienna sausages, Austen crackers, applesauce cups, pudding cups, juice boxes, chocolate milk boxes, and fruit cups.This past June, we were blessed to be able to donate $2700 to The Salvation Army CARS Program for support services for one room for the first-time situationally homeless. We would like to support a complete room for approximately $9600.
We also donated $600 for bus passes for our people at the beach who need to go to doctor appointments, apply for social services, etc. The applicants for the passes are thoroughly screened by Salvation Army personnel before the passes are dispersed.
Our goal for the coming year is to continue the beach outreach and donate enough funds to continue providing support services for one room, eventually expanding to support more rooms in the CARS program as well as continuing to provide bus passes for our beach crowd at a rate of $100-$200/month.
On behalf of the entire team, I thank you for your continuing compassionate support.
Cathy Webster
(619) 501-6506
catwebster@hotmail.com