A Bright Spot

After bringing meals to the homeless in Santa Ana, parishioners of the Iglesia Calvaria find time to feed themselves.

People laugh and chat in Spanish as they gather around pots filled with sweet, spicy chicken mole from Mexico and Peruvian ocupa--small potatoes covered with a creamy salsa sauce--along with dishes from Ecuador, Costa Rica and other countries.

It is a monthly potluck that comes straight from the melting pot of the many Spanish-language cultures in the Lantern Village district of Dana Point.

About 50 parishioners belong to Iglesia Calvaria, a small, nondenominational Christian church that opened offices eight months ago at San Juan Avenue and Street of the Violet Lantern.

“The potlucks help bring the people together and build up a relationship between them,” Pastor Christian Pederson said. “And the food is great. I’ve tasted some things I’ve never seen before in my life.”

Lantern Village, about a mile from the beach and Dana Point Harbor, combines expensive ocean-view homes with deteriorating condominiums where several families cram into two- and three-bedroom units.

With drug dealers operating openly in the streets, it was a neighborhood on the way down until about five years ago, when the city hired extra police to crack down on the drug problem.

Absentee landlords also were targeted, with the city passing a nuisance ordinance that required basic maintenance. A handful of landlords who resisted were taken to court by the city.

Although much progress has been made, drug problems and overcrowding continue to be issues.

“In Mexico, families live together, but not different families in the same place,” said Pederson, who was a homeless illegal immigrant from Peru when he came to South County 20 years ago. “There is no privacy, and people get short tempers. But until they can make some money and get their own place, these people don’t have much choice.”

Drawing from his own experience of being homeless and destitute, Pederson, who said he is now a U.S. citizen, started the Iglesia Calvaria, which is supported by the Calvary Church in Capistrano Beach.

“A lot of people come because their lives are a mess,” Pederson said. “I try to show them that there are spiritual answers to their problems.”

Pederson visits homes to counsel couples with marital problems or parents having difficulties with their children taking drugs or joining gangs.

When he hears about a family going without food, Pederson calls parishioners or other contacts and gathers up emergency rations. Even though most church members have little, he makes a point of gathering his flock once a month to feed those even more needy--the homeless in Santa Ana.

And when school is in session, there are weekly sessions on a row of outdated computers to help children with their English and math skills.

But residents say the backbone of the program is the spiritual guidance provided by Pederson.

“When I first came here, I came for the food,” said Gumercinda Bustos, who lives in Lantern Village with her husband and two children. “But every time I came, the pastor encouraged me and told me how knowing Jesus could help.

“Then, one time, I didn’t come for food, I came to listen.”

Soon, her husband found a job and the family could afford its own home and food. But Bustos said she kept coming to the Iglesia Calvaria and now goes door to door in Lantern Village to spread the word about the church.

“When you don’t have a job, someone can help you here,” Bustos said. “When you have no food or money for rent, we take a collection.

“What we do is, we help each other. We give our hearts to each other.”

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NEIGHBORHOODS / Lantern Village

Bounded by: Street of the Blue Lantern on the west, Street of the Copper Lantern on the east, Selva Road and Pacific Coast Highway on the north and south, respectively

Population: About 770 single family homes and 1,985 multifamily residences with between two and 10 units

Hot topic: Church efforts to bond the minority population