The world needs more people like Lynn Parsons.
A devoted advocate for community service, Lynn is a shining example of the answer to “what if.”
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?
And what if we took it upon ourselves to make our little corner of the world a better place?
Lynn Parsons and her husband Jim coordinate La Mesa First United Methodist Church’s Fresh Start program, which gives homeless individuals a hot breakfast, a sack lunch, a hygiene pack, and an opportunity for a ten-minute shower.
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 “we all know each other.”
“We offer a place where people can gather together as a community, and it is safe, comfortable, and they are treated with dignity and respect,” said Lynn.
Attendees also gain access to La Mesa’s HOME program through Gabriela Dominguez, who Lynn describes as a regular fixture. “They have a phenomenal track record of actually getting them into housing,” Parsons said.
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. The list of volunteers has also grown.
“More than half of our volunteers are not members of our church,” Lynn said. “They are members of the community who see what we do and want to participate.”
Thanks to Lynn and her volunteers, the program has expanded to address growing needs.
Fresh Start recently partnered with ProduceGood, a food recovery organization that collects fruits from orchards, backyards, farms, farmers’ markets, and grocers to take to pantries, shelters, and other groups who feed food-insecure San Diegans.
“I am passionate about this,” said Lynn. “It’s because it’s something we can do now. We have resources. We who have so much are thankful for what we have, and thankful we can share it with others. It’s my way of sharing something. My time, my energy, my goods; it’s something I can share.”
If you would like to volunteer, Fresh Start will be on Nov. 22 this month.
In December, the program moves back to its usual schedule of the last Saturday of the month.
Contact freshstartlamesa@gmail.com for more information.
Fair play for the holidays
St. Martin of Tours Parish Hall at 7710 El Cajon Blvd., La Mesa, is hosting the Fair Trade Fair on Nov. 30 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The event will feature fair trade chocolates, Lumily’s “Free Sourdough Project,” fair trade goods, and a Continental Café in Barry Hall, run by Scouting America Troop 51.
Fair trade is a movement to ensure workers around the world are paid a living wage.
La Mesa officially became a “Fair Trade Town USA” in 2012.
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