Vallejo residents and ‘Dignity Day’
Free showers, haircuts, food, advice, vaccinations given out to those in need
Micheal Hester had an idea a month ago to help people in Vallejo. The only problem was that his dream wasn’t big enough.
“A month ago I knew I had a dream to help people in Vallejo with a food giveaway,” Hester said. “But I’m a born again Christian and I had a talk with God and he told me that wasn’t good enough. I had to do something a bit larger.”
That large event took place at the Christian Help Center on Sacramento Street in Vallejo on Saturday with “Dignity Day.”
During the six-hour event sponsored by Mercury Pharmacy there was many services to help the homeless and those in need. Some of the services included free mobile showers, hair cuts, free meals, clothes, health checks as well as housing help, mental health services and COVID-19 tests. About 45 vaccinations were also given to the homeless.
“After I shared the idea with some others, more and more people wanted to help out,” said Hester, a retired pharmacist. “Francie McInerney MacMillan of Vallejo Together wanted to help bring in mobile showers. DeDe Scrivner-Bosuego wanted to help give people hair cuts. And from there it just started growing and growing into something bigger.”
Something that stopped growing, although momentarily, was the hair of 7-year-old John Kinnaman. The youngster, who had hair down to his shoulders, received his first-ever haircut at the event.
“I was kind of nervous at first,” Kinnaman said. “At first at wanted to go last, but then I saw my sister get one and then I wanted one right away. It’s nice to not have hairs in my face. It’s really cool to find out what a haircut is like.”
Kinnaman said he can’t wait to show off his new cut with this school classmates over Zoom after spring break ends.
Three different buses helped bring people to the event all day and once there, Will Bible, the program director for Resource Connect Solano, was glad to help.
“I think the number one question asked of me all day was ‘How can you help me?’ And I love to answer that question,” Bible said. “I’ve been known to help give referrals for housing and I love to sit down in person with someone and see how I can help them. I think it’s even more important now in a time of COVID-19. With Resource Connect we’re tapped in with a bunch of providers and we’re always in touch with them. Although we’ve been helping people throughout the pandemic, sometimes it’s nice to just see someone in person and ask them, ‘How are you doing?'”
Noeta Hester, the wife of Michael and president of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses of Northern California, also enjoyed helping out hundreds of people during the day.
“This is part of our mission and it’s so heartwarming,” Noeta said. “These are our guests and the dignity part is trying to do our part and just do the small things that make all the difference in the world like a shower and new clothes. We have all this brand new clothing and underwear that we went out and bought last week for people coming here.”
Michael Hester said there was a line of people wanting services even before the 9 a.m. starting time for the event. He said if everything continued to go well, he’d like to make “Dignity Day” a quarterly event.