Food Justice Coalition

During every speaking engagement, there comes a moment where I share my lived experience with homelessness as a child and how it informs the work we do at Food Justice Coalition. It’s deeply personal and I always struggle to keep my voice from breaking; but it’s foundational so I move past the nerves and share. When I was 5 years old, my family moved from Mexico to California. My parents had $500 to their name and three kids to support. We couldn’t afford an apartment so they rented an old empty office. They gathered a few pieces of office furniture from the dumpster and stocked an old bookcase with $200 worth of vitamins—this would be the beginning of their vitamin shop. The five of us shared a single sleeping bag and we cooked on an electric griddle. That’s all we owned. This was nearly 30 years ago but I remember it clear as day. The smile on my mother’s face as she told us to eat the rest of the scrambled eggs despite not having any for herself. The dark blue polyester sleeping bag on the cold concrete floor. The sleeves of Marias cookies we ate for weeks on end unable to afford anything else; to this day, my stomach sinks every time I pass them in the supermarket aisle. The accidental start of Food Justice Coalition occurred in December 2020 when I sought $400 for a Christmas dinner for 200 people experiencing homelessness. Within 48 hours, $4,200 poured in from my online community. I made a delicious and plant-based dinner. Some new friends helped me set up tables with linens and Christmas decorations. We met people where they were at, below an overpass atop a decomissioned rail road track. Snow began trickling down as we served 200+ individuals that night. Afterwards, there was a surplus of funds, so we kept making meals. I posted updates and strangers kept sending money. This cycle continued for a year. In September 2021, the Food Justice Coalition became a 501c3 nonprofit. We’ve created and distributed over 50,000 nutrient-dense meals since our inception. Despite experiencing significant growth, the increasing demand for our meals, and the rising rate of food insecurity across the nation, funding continues to be a significant hurdle. I share this as a reminder to myself (and you) that we all have the power to transform hardship into positive change. As we go through another month of making tough decisions, I draw on lessons from my parents' immigrant spirit, emphasizing community support despite limited resources. As we face challenges, I rely on their resilience, knowing that, like them, I can overcome the seemingly impossible, and so can you.