The “Burrito Lady” of Pasadena Feeds the Homeless Because, She Says, God Told Her To

A hand shoots out of the window of the black car sitting at the red light, motioning someone to move closer. A man comes into view. As he gets closer, a burrito, a bottle of water and a piece of paper spring out the car window into his hands. The light at Lake Avenue and Maple turns green and the car lurches on.

The “Burrito Lady” wakes up at 5:00 a.m every other Saturday to wrap 150 burritos with two friends who take turns driving her up and down the streets of Pasadena to deliver the delicious sustenance to people sleeping on sidewalks and in parks scattered throughout the City, including the homeless-heavy Central and Memorial Parks.

Her name is Nancy Carpenter. Carpenter has been feeding over 100 homeless and transient people for three years simply because, she said, “God told me to.”

Carpenter seems to be filling a void. The Salvation Army recently stopped its meals program after Pat O. Reilly was transferred to Long Beach and his feeding program at Memorial Park left with him about three months ago. Additionally, Union Station’s Adult Center changed its policy on July 1 and now only allows residents of its facility to eat at the shelter on the weekends.

The three women laugh and tell jokes as they generously spoon in the freshly-made rice, beans and slow, overnight-cooked chicken into the freshly warmed tortillas in the wee hours of dawn.

Carpenter then makes rounds stopping several at places on her route where she finds a single woman or a couple are fast asleep. She leaves the burrito, water and a page she tore out of a devotional book for them to find as a surprise when they arise — a breakfast, in bed of sorts.

“Of course one burrito is not going to feed them all day and all week. But it’s just showing them that somebody cares, somebody has time to go over there and say ‘hi’ to them,” Carpenter said.

She had started by helping a woman who fed the day laborers waiting for jobs on Saturday mornings. When Carpenter asked if they should feed the homeless, too, the response was that it would be “too much.”

“They just wanted to help their own people. That wasn’t enough for me. I felt like I wanted to help the homeless,” Carpenter said. “I see her as my mentor.”

Carpenter’s dream is to one day open a homeless shelter that uses a model similar to Homeboy Industries and that would give people a livelihood through baking to help them find purpose and change their life.

Her compassion for the homeless started with a man she met who had been a nurse. After his wife left him, he started drinking and lost all hope. Carpenter decided to take him food everyday and talk to him. One day he was sick so she and her son went to buy medicine, but he had passed away while they were gone.

“My son was crying, that really impacted him,” Carpenter said. “It seemed like no one respected his human dignity.”

Although she said she may never see the fruit of what they do, Carpenter hopes her kids will learn from her example, as she learned from her own mother to pass on the spirit of giving.

“I think my mom showed us when we were little,” Carpenter said about her source of inspiration.

“We would go to Tijuana and we would take clothes to the homeless. I think that’s where it started, seeing my mom. My sister is like me, helping the homeless too. That’s all we can do right? Our purpose is not here for us, it’s for others.”