“When I was in high school, I used to skip class. Now I work as a janitor. I hope I can earn a degree before it's too late,” wrote Jim. After meeting with me for English lessons for about two months, Jim shared this personal writing with me. Jim's story is not unique on the coastside. Many of the guests who join us for breakfast and the food distribution each week are either unskilled workers or lack college degrees. As Jim and I searched for culinary schools and auto mechanic training programs, Jim became discouraged. “Four months is too long. I need to be earning money for my family!” Like Jim, many of our guests speak little or no English and are unsure of how to improve their language skills and job prospects.
Despite these seemingly frustrating situations, our guests almost always have a smile on their faces when they walk in. They teach me not to take myself so seriously. Our Catholic Worker programs focus mainly on getting food and housing to people in need, but connecting and uniting seemingly different communities is an equally important aspect of these programs. We are privileged to have some of our guests help us run the food distribution program each Tuesday. Just this past week, Spanish and English mingled in the air as volunteers gabbed bilingually. It felt as if the temple curtain were torn in two, and cultural barriers were removed in our midst. Although we organize the programs, we Catholic Workers can take no credit for the pride and joy we receive from watching guests and volunteers come to trust each other. We owe any success to the willingness of our guests to entrust themselves to us and the jovial dedication of our many volunteers.
After having served breakfast at Coastside Lutheran Church for over a year now, we are thrilled that our partners, the church members, have urged us to serve an additional morning of breakfast each week in their building. We have submitted a proposal to the church council, and we plan to begin serving both Wednesdays and Thursdays starting the first week of June. If you would like to join us in our effort to build a more vibrant coastside community, please consider becoming a regular volunteer for the new Wednesday breakfast. Or, simply come as a guest to one of our Thursday breakfasts (we serve from 7-9am) and sit with someone you don't know.
In addition to planning for the new breakfast day, we’ve also been spending a lot of time in the garden. Our gratitude goes out to our farmer friends who have offered their advice, equipment, and encouragement as we begin another gardening season. We’re also thankful for the volunteer groups who helped us weed, assemble a storage shed, and install water lines at the garden. We’re still working on setting up a timer and installing a drip irrigation system. We have marked several of the two hundred square foot beds, and we have begun double digging the marked beds. Rotten produce and kitchen scraps from the breakfast program are being composted for the garden, and some quantity is ready to be added into the soil. The chard, peas, and squash in our sunroom seem anxious to be planted. Our biggest garden job right now is digging and preparing the beds in time to plant our crops. Please let us know if you are interested in coming out to help. As always, thank you for your support of our work.
Grace and Peace Be Yours In Abundance,
Bryce Fisher Melissa Hansell
House Needs
1) Volunteers for the new Wednesday Community Breakfast
- Setup, cooking, and cleanup
2) Volunteers for the Garden
- Flexible work times, no experience necessary, and we welcome volunteer groups!
3) Community Breakfast Items
- Jam, Eggs, and Milk
- Homemade food items
4) Distribution Items
- Dry Beans
5) An industrial sized refrigerator for storing vegetables.
6) Money, for ongoing expenses.
*Please call Melissa or Bryce at (650) 726-6621 if you are interested in helping.
