Local Hollister thrift store Worth Saving Mercantile, the anchor for Linda Lampe’s Food Angels program, will be closing its doors next month. The downtown location has served as a haven for homeless and food-insecure people for the last six years.
Lampe, 77, has been an advocate for vulnerable populations in the area for over two decades. During a recent phone interview, she said she is grappling with it all.
“One of the reasons that for a while I’ve been so emotional… it was very difficult for me to actually be able to find the words to voice what’s going on, because it’s a lot and it’s just a very sad and trying time,” Lampe said.
After Linda’s husband, Patrick, underwent open heart surgery, he had to slow down and could no longer prop up the food program and store front with the income from his real estate business. She says they would both work 12 hours a day, seven days a week to help those in need.
The Lampes would initially buy meals for people from local restaurants, but around 2010 they began to make meals themselves, turning their faith-based work into a food ministry, founding My Father’s House in the basement of the old Hazel Hawkins Hospital building.
“I decided I could do better cooking myself. And so I started cooking casseroles. My mom did cook for the family on the farm, so I learned how to stretch food and make good, nutritious comfort foods,” Lampe said.
Through Covid, Food Angels was serving 1,100 families per week, Lampe said, sourcing groceries from local stores and also getting a hand from Martha’s Kitchen. The program assists senior citizens and the local farmworker population, working to dispel the fear and shame that stops people from seeking help.
Food Angels are continuing their weekly distribution at R.O. Hardin Middle School on Saturdays and have found a temporary home at the Salvation Army facility on Buena Vista Road. But they are still looking for a permanent home.
“Here’s our biggest problem right now: we have a temporary place to go to continue the food for the next three months. But what we need is a facility to operate out of, you know, without the very low overhead, because nobody here gets paid,” Lampe said.
Local organizations like the Community Foundation for San Benito County have reached out to see how they could help, according to Lampe, but she thinks the bigger problem here is the community’s approach to homelessness. She feels the local government could do more to support projects like hers, which help people stay off the streets.
The county’s 2024 Point In Time report, which details the state of homelessness in San Benito County, was recently published and showed a concerning trend. According to the report, there has been a 73.9% increase in the homeless population compared to 2022, totaling the number of people counted at 621.
People over age 50 made up 9% of the total and 67% of those surveyed cited the lack of affordable housing as the cause of their homelessness, according to the PIT report released this week by the county.
By Lampe’s account, this week will see the 290th person she has helped off the streets start a new job and move toward financial and housing stability.
“What I believe is San Benito County and Hollister could be the shining city on the hill. We could take the formula that we’re using and it works,” Lampe said.
For now, she is focusing on selling off the inventory at Worth Saving (located at 101 Fifth Street in Hollister), which is running a 60% off sale until it closes on Nov. 4. Lampe is grateful for all the community support and donations over the years.
“There have been some wonderful, caring, sharing, giving people in this community that have given from their heart and given to help us to do this and all the beautiful things. (When) I think I’m going to get bitter because (of) the county or the city (governments), I look around at all these beautiful treasures that people in the community have donated, and it makes me feel so wrapped in love,” Lampe said.
