Every Thanksgiving William Hill knows where to go.
He does not go visit family or go to a friend’s house for a Thanksgiving feast.
Instead, Hill says he spends Thanksgiving Day with a few other homeless individuals at a local Chula Vista park where a church or nonprofit organization will feed them.
Hill does not remember the name of the church or organization that spreads their generosity with a Thanksgiving meal but said he just knows to be there.
“They just show up at the park,” he said about the people who feed him. “For the last three years, that’s the way it’s been.”
For some, Thanksgiving is about family bonding, for Hill Thanksgiving is “just a day where everything shuts down.”
Hil,47, said he’s been homeless for quite some time. Despite not having a roof over his head or a job, Hill said he is thankful to see another day of life.
“Being homeless is hard,” he said. “I’m just thankful for still being around.”
Pamela Davidson, 53, is not looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving meal. She said instead what she wants for Thanksgiving is just to find a place “to keep warm.” She said Thanksgiving is the start of cold weather and while she is thankful for plenty, she dreads this time because of the cold. She said she does not know where she will go to keep warm but will eventually find some place.
Mike, who declined to provide his last name, is originally from Pacific Beach, but he ended up in Chula Vista because that’s where his Doctor’s office is located.
The wheelchair bound homeless man said it was just a lot of work traveling from Pacific Beach to Chula Vista for his doctor’s appointments that for the last three years he just decided to stay on the streets of Chula Vista so that he wouldn’t have to travel very far.
He said all he wants for Thanksgiving is stuffing and gravy. He does not know how or if he will get it but stuffing and gravy is all he wants.
“I don’t go to what they call the feeds,” he said. “Because I feel like I’m pretty much in the way because they have to make way for the wheel chair and do all that kind of stuff, so I don’t feel like inconveniencing myself. I just feel like eating some stuffing.”
Mike said when he was younger Thanksgiving was a time of family. He said it was the yearly event where he would see family that he didn’t see very often. Now Thanksgiving to him is a day for him to eat.
He said while he remains in a wheelchair with the left side of his body not functioning well, he is thankful that the right side of his body works.
Mike said he has not had stuffing and gravy for about three consecutive Thanksgivings, but he said this year he will see if he finally will get some.
“Believe me, I’m going to have a Thanksgiving,” he said. “It may not be in the same way as many other folks, but I will have a Thanksgiving. And eventually, I’ll get stuffing and gravy.”
