\t\t\t\t\tOverview: Fresh Start<\/p>\n
Lynn said when she started with the program four years ago, just around 40 people showed up for services. Since then, the number has increased at least four times; in October, Fresh Start helped 180 people.<\/p>\n
The world needs more people like Lynn Parsons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A devoted advocate for community service, Lynn is a shining example of the answer to \u201cwhat if.\u201d<\/p>\n
What if we all pitched in and helped one another? What if we began getting to know all of our neighbors, housed and unhoused alike?<\/p>\n
And what if we took it upon ourselves to make our little corner of the world a better place?<\/p>\n
Lynn Parsons and her husband Jim coordinate La Mesa First United Methodist Church\u2019s Fresh Start program<\/a>, which gives homeless individuals a hot breakfast, a sack lunch, a hygiene pack, and an opportunity for a ten-minute shower.<\/p>\n Before people even enter the courtyard of the church, they are immediately welcomed at the gate by Jim, who gives everyone a name tag so \u201cwe all know each other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe offer a place where people can gather together as a community, and it is safe, comfortable, and they are treated with dignity and respect,\u201d said Lynn.\u00a0<\/p>\n Attendees also gain access to La Mesa\u2019s HOME program<\/a> through Gabriela Dominguez, who Lynn describes as a regular fixture. \u201cThey have a phenomenal track record of actually getting them into housing,\u201d Parsons said.<\/p>\n Lynn said when she started with the program four years ago, just around 40 people showed up for services. <\/p>\n Since then, the number has increased at least four times; in October, Fresh Start helped 180 people. The list of volunteers has also grown.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than half of our volunteers are not members of our church,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cThey are members of the community who see what we do and want to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to Lynn and her volunteers, the program has expanded to address growing needs.<\/p>\n Fresh Start recently partnered with ProduceGood<\/a>, a food recovery organization that\u00a0 collects fruits from orchards, backyards, farms, farmers\u2019 markets, and grocers to take to pantries, shelters, and other groups who feed food-insecure San Diegans.<\/p>\n \u201cI am passionate about this,\u201d said Lynn. \u201cIt\u2019s because it\u2019s something we can do now. We have resources.\u00a0 We who have so much are thankful for what we have, and thankful we can share it with others. It\u2019s my way of sharing something. My time, my energy, my goods; it\u2019s something I can share.\u201d<\/p>\n If you would like to volunteer, Fresh Start will be on Nov. 22 this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n In December, the program moves back to its usual schedule of the last Saturday of the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n Contact freshstartlamesa@gmail.com for more information.<\/p>\n Fair play for the holidays<\/p>\n