Editor Note: Only first names are used when referring to individuals experiencing homelessness, as these are the names by which students know and recognize them. Full legal names were not available or commonly known at the time this story was written.
“While summer can feel like a break for many students, life doesn’t pause for the people we serve,” Bray Bartley, a third-year organizational communication major and Homeless Ministries volunteer at Point Loma Nazarene University, said. “Their challenges and needs don’t take a vacation.”
As the spring semester came to a close, most of the PLNU student body packed up and headed home for the summer. However, students involved with Homeless Ministries, a PLNU-funded club, continued their work. Despite the smaller group due to students leaving campus, Homeless Ministries continued to go to downtown San Diego weekly to provide food, water and hygiene kits.
“We are some of these unhoused individuals’ main resource of support,” Lauren Krivanev, a third-year psychology major who helped lead the ministry this summer, said.
Krivanev said that this support transcends physical means, as those in the ministry provide emotional and spiritual support, and beyond that, genuine friendship.
Jacob Sullivan, a third-year accounting major, was another student to help lead Homeless Ministries this summer. Sullivan said that PLNU has an impact on those downtown, one that doesn’t go unnoticed.
“We would run into people, and they would be like, ‘Where have you guys been?’” Sullivan said, reflecting on his first trip downtown following the school year.
Sullivan, along with the rest of the ministry, has created a routine that the community downtown has grown to expect, he said. After just missing the first couple of weeks of summer, the community recognized their absence.
Before her semester abroad last spring, Krivanev would run into two individuals downtown consistently: Mark and Jerry. Krivanev told them about her upcoming study abroad plans, and they shared things such as travel advice and food recommendations. While she was abroad, she sent back photos and videos for her peers to show Mark and Jerry.
As summer came around, Krivanev returned to Point Loma and went back downtown to serve in her usual route, where she reunited with Mark and Jerry.
“They were stunned and so happy to see me again, and I felt the same,” she said.
Krivanev said she shared stories of her time abroad, and they “lived vicariously” through her.
This interaction, once again, showed Krivanev the importance of the relationships she has made downtown, and continuing to show up consistently, she said.
“Seeing people who I grew to know deeply and care for during the fall again grounded me in this ministry,” she said.
This is not a stand-alone story.
Bartley met a man named Dean during her first ministry trip of the summer. Dean told her stories about making his way down to San Diego, CA, from Las Vegas, NV, his exciting ride in a Tesla and eventually deeper topics such as his family life.
“Although it seemed like it took a toll on him, he still told me and others the story with such enthusiasm,” Bartley said. “He gave me lots of advice on family, which I took to heart.”
While the ministry strives to make a difference in the lives of those it serves, its impact doesn’t stop there. The experience has also been deeply transformative for the students involved, especially during the summer months.
Sullivan said he began volunteering from a place of guilt, but has grown into a better appreciation of his own life and upbringing, and it has given him an outlet to be generous with the opportunities he has.
“I saw that not 10 miles away from our campus, people were living in the most horrific conditions imaginable,” he said. “Now I keep going because it’s just like going out to see my friends at this point.”
For Bartley, serving this summer was a chance for her to step outside of her comfort zone.
Throughout the school year, the ministry has access to more volunteers, making the groups that go downtown larger. Within the larger group, Bartley had grown used to hiding in the pack, handing out food and sticking to small talk, she said. As the group shrank in summer, this shield was stripped away, putting Bartley in a position where growth was inevitable.
“Some of those talks were hard, but I’m so thankful God gave me the courage to step into them,” she said. “Being able to really listen, encourage and pray for people was such a meaningful part of this summer and helped me grow in ways I hadn’t experienced before.”
As the school year commences, Homeless Ministries continues its routes downtown.
To learn more about how to get involved, visit their Instagram at @communityministries.
Grace Chaves