The longest journey begins with a single step, so the old adage goes.

Many took their first steps in the daunting quest to end homelessness in San Diego Saturday at Marina Park, where hundreds of volunteers turned out to raise money for Father Joe’s Villages, the venerable San Diego charity dedicated to helping neighbors in need.

The 2.1-mile bayfront walk — promoted as San Diego’s first walk to end homelessness — was expected to raise $50,000 or more in just three hours.

They are resources Father Joe’s Villages CEO Deacon Jim Vargas said will be put to good use.


“We’re raising awareness on the plight of the homeless,” Vargas said just before the morning kick-off. “We have the fourth-largest homeless population in the United States and the second-largest number of homeless veterans.

“The numbers just keep growing.”

Volunteers began lining up nearly an hour before the official 8:30 a.m. start.

1 / 12 “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless, winds around Embarcadero Marina Park South in the background past Darrell Edll, who has been homeless for the past two-years. The 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended in the park. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 12 Participants in “A Short Walk Home,” held at Embarcadero Marina Park South, and sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help homeless, walk through a symbolic makeshift door frame at the beginning of the 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront. At the end of the walk they walked through the door a second time. The door symbolizes efforts to help clients find their own home according to organizers. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 12 Participants in “A Short Walk Home,” held at Embarcadero Marina Park South, and sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help homeless, walk through a symbolic makeshift door frame at the beginning of the 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront. At the end of the walk they walked through the door a second time. The door symbolizes efforts to help clients find their own home according to organizers. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 12 “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless, winds around Embarcadero Marina Park South. The 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended in the park. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 12 Participants in “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless carried heart-shaped balloons during the 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended at Embarcadero Marina Park South near the San Diego Convention Center. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 12 Leilani Barcarse holds heart-shaped balloons before the start of the “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 12 Participants in “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless, walk near the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. The 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended at Embarcadero Marina Park South. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 12 “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless, winds around Embarcadero Marina Park South past a homeless man sleeping on a bench. The 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended in the park. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 12 “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless, winds around Embarcadero Marina Park South. The 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended in the park. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 12 “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless, winds around Embarcadero Marina Park South. The 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended in the park. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 12 Most participants in “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless carried heart-shaped balloons during the 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront that began and ended at Embarcadero Marina Park South near the San Diego Convention Center. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 12 Participants in “A Short Walk Home,” sponsored by Father Joe’s Villages, the first walk in the city to help the homeless, walk near the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. The 2.1 mile walk along the waterfront began and ended at Embarcadero Marina Park South. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)


Dawn O’Donnell of Point Loma brought her 7th-grade daughter, Megan, and a small group of other girls from her neighborhood to help raise money and, more important, to show the young women how other people struggle.

“Anything we can do to give back is important,” said O’Donnell, who works as a recruitment director for a telecom company.

“It’s also important to get them out of their bubble,” she said of the girls, part of a group called San Diego MADCAPS, or Mothers and Daughters Club Assisting Philanthropies.

“They have good friends and a good family so it’s important they see that there are other families with challenges and children that are not living in as nice conditions,” O’Donnell said. “They don’t know until they see it.”


According to the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, more than 9,100 people in San Diego County were homeless in 2016 — a 5 percent increase over the previous year. The city of San Diego accounted for more than 5,600 of those and registered a 10 percent spike since 2015, the task force reported in April.

John Pack, an optometrist from Chula Vista, signed up for the event through his parish, St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church.

“We are big supporters of Father Joe’s Villages,” said Pack, one of 40 or so walkers organized under Team Bishop John, representing the Rev. John Dolan, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. “We support their mission and what they are doing for the community. These are our people, our neighbors.”

The walk concluded with volunteers walking through a makeshift door frame of bare timber, a telling symbol for the people they sought to help.


Barely 100 yards away, however, on a flannel sleeping bag unzipped and spread out on the moist grass with a pair of soiled backpacks and what little else they had, James and “Little Whitney” were less than impressed with the compassion unfolding behind them. The couple did not wish to give their last names.

Despite the swell of volunteers working to end homelessness, the couple said, they were not likely to benefit from any of the proceeds.

“It all ends up back in the vendors’ pockets,” said James, who said he once served in the U.S. Navy.

Little Whitney said people who donate time and money to fight homelessness have no idea how difficult and violent and uncaring life on the street can be.


“We’re not even halfway allowed to go into a fundraiser like this,” said the woman, who became homeless after aging out of foster care. “When you look like this, with a backpack, they won’t let you in. We can’t even go to the bathroom.”

Back at the wood-framed door, Deacon Vargas acknowledged there can be gaps in the services available to homeless people — even though his organization serves more than 2,000 people every day.

“This isn’t the case with us, but I understand how they feel,” he said in response to James’ point that donations do not always translate to direct help for those in need. “The reality is we don’t have enough resources. We need to raise funds for that very reason.”


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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald