Hugs and Bags: Helping the Community with Kindness
Hugs and Bags was founded by University Heights resident Jacqueline Penhos about 11 years ago. It started as a project to show kindness to homeless people and has evolved into a fully operating grassroots non-profit. It is an inspiration and reminder to volunteer time out of our lives to help the less fortunate.
Penhos, a college psychology professor in her day job, pours all of her heart and free time into Hugs and Bags. The concept formed by going around Skid Row and other parts of downtown to help homeless people in need. “Our focus for Hugs and Bags is helping everyone, but we focus on the students. Here in University Heights and North Park, there are about 100 homeless students. But they get up every morning and still go to school,” Penhos said.
Hugs and Bags is united in its mission to help those in need with food and donations. The group gives out meals at Trolley Barn Park. Every Monday, they have a community meal giveaway. On Fridays, they do a clothing swap. Penhos says while the focus is students, anyone in the community is welcome to come who is experiencing hardship. “This morning there was a single dad who lives here. He lost his job two weeks ago, and he didn’t have anything in his fridge. I told him take whatever you need,” she shared. This message exemplifies the mission of Hugs and Bags: being a safe space in the community to turn to for assistance.
The organization gives away food, clothes, school supplies, haircuts, and mental health help whenever possible. They have barbers who donate their time as volunteers and food vendors who donate a variety of food items. They also recently ran a school supply drive for the kids at Birney Elementary.
Volunteers and donors are the beating heart of Hugs and Bags. They are what keeps it alive and are critical to its success. Penhos is grateful for the work they do but hopes that ultimately the organization can grow. She dreams of opening up more physical spaces such as a community meeting office space or a bigger storage, someday.
Penhos also expressed her desire to see the city resources for the homeless improve further. “I would like there to be true accessibility to the shelters, maybe a teen shelter for the teens in San Diego, open another shelter for domestic violence survivors,” Penhos shared. She concluded that she would love anyone to volunteer for Hugs and Bags. It could be one hour a week or a month—anything to give back to their community.
To find out more on how to donate or volunteer, visit hugsandbags.com, or connect on Instagram @hugs_bags.
Jacqueline Penhos; photo by Jennifer Ferrada