SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - All over San Diego this holiday weekend, people experiencing homelessness can get a traditional Thanksgiving meal, thanks to a handful of organizations helping people in need.
But when the weekend is over, Father Joe's Villages will keep feeding people without homes. To them, it's the first step towards helping people off the streets.
"If you're hungry, it's really difficult to focus on anything," says David MacGregor-Lambert, the Purchasing Manager at Father Joe's.
Father Joe's serves more than 800,00 individual meals every year at their kitchens in the East Village. They offer three hot meals per day, 365 days a year.
MacGregor-Lambert calls it the foundation of their work.
"Once we've fed them, we can start to talk to them, so they're not worried about just putting food in their mouth," he explains. "We can start thinking about the next step from food, which centers on what they need now. If they need somewhere to sleep, we can match them to facilities that suit their needs."
Chefs plan the menu, with a focus on nutrition and a balanced diet. They don't allow any fried food.
In addition to getting a meal, offering food in a group setting helps socialize people who normally live isolated lives.
"It's a natural part of getting someone back to normality, as it were," MacGregor-Lambert says.
Diana DeBusk is one of Father Joe's clients. She's been homeless since 2006.
"I think food is the most important thing," she says about the help she gets from the organization.
Father Joe's also runs a food warehouse, giving out boxes of food to families and other people in need. In 2022, they distributed 18,000 food boxes. They hope to raise that number to 24,000 in 2023.
"A lot of people are struggling," MacGregor-Lambert says. "It's not just people who are homeless. It's everybody out there we're helping right now."
It's why they'll keep feeding people through the holidays and beyond.
