Second chance to care and give

Deirdre Newman

The Lighthouse Church on the city’s Westside was established to

provide a beacon of light to the community.

For the past month, that light has radiated hope and encouragement

to those in most need of refuge -- people who have found themselves

homeless and in need of meals.

Pastor Dale Fitch made the church available to a homeless outreach

effort that was kicked out of Lions Park for not having a permit.

It was an act of divine intervention that brought the plight of

the outreach effort to his attention, Fitch said. He agreed without

hesitation to provide the church facility since the effort meshed

with his philosophy.

“It’s important to me because I feel it’s the church’s

responsibility to care for the poor and needy, not the government’s

[responsibility],” Fitch said. “We’re not attempting to keep people

on the street. We just want to help them with training and jobs and

help them be productive.”

The effort to feed the homeless was hatched in January 2002 by

Betty Abbott, Jerry Face and some participants of the singles

ministry they hosted. They decided on Lions Park as an appropriate

location for the weekend and passed out fliers to notify those in

need.

They intended to do it as a one-time event and were amazed by the

number of people that showed up. Based on the obvious need, the two

continued feeding the homeless every weekend.

But last month, residents complained to city leaders that feeding

the homeless resulted in feces, needles and trash in the park, said

Costa Mesa City Manager Alan Roeder. Abbott and Face claim that they

methodically cleaned the park after the meals were distributed, even

picking up other people’s trash at times. But because they did not

have a permit for groups of 10 or more, police officials told them

they could not operate in the park without the risk of being

arrested.

Soon after, Abbott sought out Fitch and asked him if they could

use the church.

“One day, I was walking over to the Coffee Bean and God spoke to

me and said ‘You need to get involved in the community,’” Fitch said.

“I didn’t know how. The day after, Betty came and asked me. It was an

answer to my prayers.”

The eviction from Lions Park turned out to be a blessing in

disguise as using the Lighthouse Church enables the organizers to

expand their outreach to the homeless and the number of days they

serve them.

Abbott, who has become the volunteer director at the church, now

offers a drop-in center starting at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday with

lunch served two days a week and dinner available six days a week.

She also coordinates hands-on activities like woodworking.

“Betty’s probably the only person who could pull this off,” Abbott

said. “We just followed her lead.”

On Saturday, Abbott, Face and several other volunteers served up

spaghetti and meatballs, warm rolls and salad to about 20 hungry

people. As people lined up to get some of the tasty meal, Betty

walked around the room, searching out those in need of a hug, a warm

smile and some encouragement.

One of those was Belinda [who did not give her last name].

Belinda’s mother passed away eight days ago and Betty embraced her as

she would a dear friend while Belinda broke down in tears.

“Betty is a beautiful lady,” Belinda said warmly.

Sauson Clarke, 32, partook in the church’s generosity for the

first time Saturday. The 32-year-old painter from Beverly Hills

became homeless in December when he moved to Laguna Beach to take a

job that didn’t pan out.

“I think it’s great,” Clarke said of the meal.

One of the success stories of the outreach effort is Scott

Vincent, 40, who had been homeless on and off for 13 years. Before finding out about the outreach effort, he dug into trash cans for

recyclable material to get enough money to eat. Now, Vincent has a

job in Santa Ana, helps out with the outreach on the weekend and is

engaged to Abbott.

“To only not need to be here, but to volunteer my time, it makes

me feel good,” Vincent said.

Fitch said he is eager to help the homeless as long as there is a

need and said he would ultimately like to obtain funding to provide

job training for them.

“The more I think about it, this is more of a safe place for the

homeless [than Lions Park],” Fitch said. “We’re going to love and

care for these folks no matter what. It doesn’t matter how they smell

or how they look. [Helping them] is a real privilege.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.