On a sweltering afternoon as temperatures in Calexico, California topped 118 degrees, a group of homeless sought shelter under trees just off Third Street and Paulin Avenue in the city’s busy downtown a couple of blocks from the border.
They knew to be there around 5 p.m. That’s when a familiar white van from the Brown Bag Coalition (Coalition) would arrive to provide welcome relief – water and Gatorade, popsicles, washcloths dipped in cold water and other supplies.
When the van arrived, Brown Bag Coalition founder Maribel Padilla and her volunteer that day, Jose Contreras, stepped out and began delivering the supplies as the number of homeless around them grew.
Those they helped offered them hugs and their blessings, saying those supplies were a lifeline.
“What they’re doing for us means so much,” said 46-year-old David Parra, who said he’s been homeless on the streets of Calexico for five years. “God’s here to help us, and these people are out here doing God’s work.”
Since 2015, the Brown Bag Coalition, a grassroots non-profit organization based in the city of El Centro, California, has been providing help to the homeless, offering food, access to showers, clothing, and, during the dangerously hot summer months, the cold bottles of water and other lifesaving supplies.
Padilla also provides transit tickets for those willing to travel to El Centro, where Catholic Charities Day Center provides showers, laundry services and additional support.
When the temperatures reach 115 and above, the Coalition begins its water runs. Padilla, the Coalition’s lead organizer, and her volunteers drive around Calexico and El Centro, stopping at the locations where they know the homeless will be. Monday through Friday between 6:30-7:30 p.m. other volunteers provide dinner meals through partnerships with local churches, community groups, local residents, and other Imperial Valley organizations.
“For me, the way I see it, I’m paying it forward,” said Padilla as she filled bags with supplies and handed them out to the homeless. “I have two sons and if they ever were to need help, I would hope someone would be out there to help them. That’s why I look at it as paying it forward.”
The Brown Bag Coalition, named for the bagged meals the organization provides, began in December 2014 when, during the winter, a freeze alert was issued in the Valley. Padilla, who coordinates the Coalition while balancing that volunteer effort with her full-time job as a community organizer with Planned Parenthood, had an idea with her close friend and co-founder Norma Aguillar.
They were going to find a way to provide shelter for the homeless. After an effort that involved the Calexico Unified School District, along with several other partnering agencies, they succeeded in opening a shelter at a school gym, providing food and shuttle service to help the homeless reach the shelter.
It was only supposed to last five days, but then a new shelter was found at the Calexico Methodist Church for an additional five days. It didn’t end there. Padilla and Aguilar lobbied the Calexico City Council for a shelter, and the council came forward with an additional 45-day shelter on city grounds.
At the end of that effort, Padilla thought they were finished. She was wrong. Since they still had food from the shelters, they started to deliver that food to the homeless. Padilla expected they would eventually run out and have to stop, but then donations started coming in from the community—and those donations continue today.
That’s how it all started,” Padilla said. “I figured when we would run out of people willing to help, that’s when we would stop. We’ve never run out of people willing to help, and it has never stopped.”
The Brown Bag Coalition became an official non-profit on Sept. 15, 2016, and has continued its service to the homeless, even during the pandemic years when the Coalition expanded its outreach efforts.
Today, the Brown Bag Coalition is an organization with about 30 volunteers, including Imperial County Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar, who represents Calexico. The Coalition also has partnerships with organizations throughout the Valley that help with food deliveries. The efforts are supported through donations from individuals, businesses and organizations.
Additionally, funding from the Imperial Irrigation District (Local Entity funds) in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority paid for two vans, a mobile shower trailer unit and two storage containers used by the Coalition. Funding for the vehicles came from Citizens Energy Corp., a foundation run by Joseph Kennedy III, and other local agencies and businesses.
Supervisor Escobar said he supports the work of the Coalition, adding that it’s important to work with organizations, like the Coalition, along with the city (of Calexico) and area businesses to ensure the city continues to function while addressing the issue of homelessness in a way that show empathy to those who are struggling.
“They (the Coalition) are out there giving of their time to assist people with needs,” Escobar said, adding, “It’s about trying to give something back to the community.”
On one day, as temperatures in the Imperial Valley soared to 117 degrees, Padilla and Contreras made their way to Cesar Chavez Boulevard on the back side of a shopping center across from the Calexico downtown port of entry. Behind the shops was a dirt embankment upon which stood a tent and other makeshift shelters erected by the homeless.
When the Coalition van stopped, Francisco Ramirez, 56, made his way down the embankment to seek supplies. He said he depends on the Coalition throughout the week.
“They come by here every day, and they are such a blessing,” he said, as he bit into a popsicle and opened a bottle of water.
The next stop along the route for the Coalition was a side street in downtown Calexico just a block away from the port. There, they met a small group, all seeking shelter in the shade of a corner building.
Luis Miguel Ojeda, 45, was among the group. Drenched in sweat from the day’s heat, he said the support of the Coalition is a matter of survival. “It’s hard here because it is so hot, and there is no work.”
Padilla said providing support for the homeless during the extreme heat can be a matter of life and death. Just earlier in the week when temperatures reached 121 degrees, the Coalition saw an elderly homeless man fall to the ground. Stopping to check on him, it was clear he was succumbing to the heat.
“We covered him in cold washcloths to try to lower his body temperature, and we kept him going until the EMTs arrived,” she said.
Moving on to the site on Third and Paulin, Padilla and Contreras stopped by one group and as soon as they started handing out supplies, more people seeking help walked up to the van. Contreras greeted each with a hug before handing them supplies. Padilla placed a cool, wet cloth on the neck of a shirtless elderly man, offering him kind words along with supplies.
She said she is hopeful the work of the Coalition will continue as long as it is needed, and as she looks to the future, she is looking toward a new generation of young people ready to help, in particular from two social justice organizations, Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition, and Valle Brilla.
“These are young people I have been training, and they represent the future,” she said, adding that the Coalition’s efforts must continue even after the time comes for her to step down as its lead—but that is still a ways off. For now, she will continue to be out there providing meals, and working against the heat to bring relief to those who need it most.
“’Making a Difference one Bag at a Time’ is not only the Coalition’s tagline but what we truly believe in,” she said.