‘Are you hungry?’
Ministry reaches out to ‘street people’
By BERN ZOVISTOSKI
The New Vision
As darkness descended, a volunteer walked out of the basement of Holy Family Parish and across the parking lot, stopping on the sidewalk, where, as he looked up Main Avenue, he raised a small red flag over his head.
He waved it back and forth for about a minute.
As he returned to the church basement, within moments several men on bicycles swooped in and parked and followed him in, while others, singly and in small groups, walked in and joined them.
It was dinner time for Tucson’s street people.
Inside, volunteers from several parishes dished out sizably proportioned hot meals – meat, vegetables, pasta – to some 40 hungry folks, mostly men and a few women.
As they ate, with some going for second and even third helpings, Brother David Buer, O.F.M., arrived from San Xavier Mission in a van labeled “Franciscan Ministry.”
He backed up the vehicle to the basement door to load large containers of hot soup and hot chocolate simmering in the church kitchen.
Soon he and two volunteers would be “making the rounds” throughout the city to hand out the nourishing sustenance to other street people.
Brother David’s helpers on Feb. 12 were two “snowbirds” from Boston, Edna and Tom Green, who are actively involved at Most Holy Trinity Parish on Greasewood Avenue.
Various volunteers take turns staffing the “soup tour,” which is a nightly event.
On this night, 38 people were served at more than a dozen locations, some of them “campsites” with multiple occupants who were expecting the van’s arrival.
The “campers” were collegial groups, and their established friendship with Brother David was obvious. Each dealt with the other with dignity and respect.
Driving along, Brother David noted that the people appreciated not only the material things brought to them but the chance to talk and the realization that someone really cares about them.
Some “loners” walked the streets, such as Sixth Avenue, as Brother David drove by slowly and called out: “Are you hungry?”
Besides the cocoa and potato soup, both served piping hot by Edna and Tom at each stop, Brother David offered the people chips and snacks, blankets, caps, socks and even underwear.
He also offered copies of the Bible, and rosary beads, which several of the people accepted eagerly.
Clearly appreciative for what they received, every street person expressed his or her gratitude.
The “soup tour” began about 7 p.m., stopping at a number of pre-determined places, including two in the heart of downtown.
One was at a small park, the other at a prominent building where the homeless bed down at night and retrieve their belongings and leave before the next “business day” begins, only to return the next night.
A tacit understanding prevails, Brother David indicated.
Another established site was a remote area alongside the railroad tracks, another in a brushy area alongside the I-10 freeway.
As Brother David approached another campsite that was well off the road in a small park, he flashed the van’s headlights as a signal that he had arrived.
Three men walked out of the darkness and greeted the visitors warmly, taking several containers of the offerings not only for themselves but for others in their camp who were asleep.
Brother David said the group maintains a very clean and neat camp.
The van returned to Holy Family Parish at 9:45 p.m. 
Brother David noted that on this night there were fewer people out than usual – sometimes the mission reaches 50 or 60, he said.
All of the food is prepared and provided by Caridad, a non-denominational organization with a stated mission of “working for humanity and human dignity by feeding the body, nourishing the mind, and lifting the spirit.”
Located in Tucson just across Main Avenue from Holy Family Parish, Caridad’s facility provides more than 10,000 meals a month to people with low and moderate income, and to the homeless.
The nutritious meals are distributed at various shelters and public feeding sites throughout Tucson and Pima County.
Caridad was founded by Holy Family Parish’s late pastor, Father Joseph Baker, and a group of volunteers who had operated a feeding and shelter program in the church basement for many years.
Caridad’s manager, Debbie Purdom, a member of Holy Family Parish, said the facility serves 10 interfaith congregations, including Tucson’s First Church of God and Life in Christ Community Church.
Some of the congregations say they are feeding “neighborhood people who are just in need of meals,” Purdom said.
The meal in the Holy Family Church basement is served every night except Thursday and Saturday. Parishioner Isabelle Lira was there on Feb. 12, overseeing the gathering.
At Caridad, Purdom said, “we’re addressing two problems, hunger and unemployment.”
The feeding program offers immediate relief from hunger, while the “root cause of hunger” is addressed by a job training program “to provide an avenue to people to get their lives back in order,” Purdom said.
A cook training program focuses on teaching basic life skills and job skills necessary to enter the food service industry, she said. Three-month classes are provided for people who are homeless or receiving assistance, and about 20 people are trained each year.
The food used by Caridad is obtained from the community food bank and a “minimal amount,” such as apple sauce or pasta, comes through a U.S.D.A. program. Some items are purchased by Caridad with donation money.
“We can always use more donors,” Purdom said, “and more volunteers.”