“Quirky enough to be interesting.”
That’s what Kari Marsh thought when she first heard about Harvest912, a small nonprofit that provides shoes and foot care for unhoused people. Based in Erie, Pennsylvania, Harvest912 was looking to start a Tucson branch.
Harvest912 got its start when founders Kit and Tad Jakes, on their way to cook a fancy dinner for a friend, drove past a man wearing only one shoe. They had no cash to give him; instead they headed to a big box store to buy him shoes. After giving the man the new shoes — remarkably, they had picked the right size — the couple felt an overwhelming sense of joy. Within a week they had started Harvest912.
Adding to the quirkiness, the Tucson connection is rooted in the founder love of spicy foods. The Pennsylvania couple creates hot sauces and spicy treats under the “Mad Cow” brand, with profits going to Harvest912, and a fellow chili head in Tucson suggested they start a branch here.
Marsh heard this story at a meeting of Faith That Works Tucson. She offered to help, figuring she’d connect Kit Jakes to local organizations serving the homeless population. Instead Marsh, who leads community outreach for Hope City Church, was inspired to run Harvest912 Tucson.
Congregation Bet Shalom has been partnering with Hope City on other projects, such as making lunches for the unhoused.
Last week, volunteers from Bet Shalom, Hope City, and the wider community took part in a foot care clinic at Gospel Rescue Mission, one of several such clinics Harvest912 Tucson has held at locations around town convenient for the unhoused population. The clinic was part of a pre-Thanksgiving outreach event at the mission that included everything from turkey dinners to jumping castles for children.
Anne Lowe, a former Bet Shalom president and inveterate volunteer, was at the mission on November 27, washing the feet of people in need alongside her friend Carrie Jacobi.
In past years, Jacobi has volunteered to help cook and serve Thanksgiving dinners at the mission.
The foot clinic was a chance to do something different, says Jacobi, adding that she heard Marsh speak at a Northwest Tucson Jewish Community lunch and learn.
After having their feet washed, the houseless individuals moved on to a volunteer nurse, Carrie Rubal, who checked their feet for problems and trimmed nails and calluses.
“It was a very moving to see the people who needed to have their feet worked on” by the nurse, Lowe says, because it was obvious they hadn’t had that kind of care in a long time.
“It was nice to be part of a whole day of giving to people,” Lowe adds. “It was a rewarding experience. I’d do it again.”
At the final station, those who had registered in advance received new socks and shoes. The registrations allowed Marsh to bring the correct sizes to the mission. The shoes are donated by Carolina Shoe Company, which offered to donate after Harvest912 asked to buy shoes at cost.
Marsh says Carolina delivers hundreds of shoes to the Tucson branch several times a year, in addition to supplying the Erie branch.
The clinic at Gospel Rescue Mission was Harvest912 Tucson’s fourth full foot care clinic with a medical professional. They also hold regular mini clinics, without a health care professional, at Hope City Church. In addition to getting new shoes and socks, mini clinic guests get respite from the weather, lunch, and other items such as hygiene kits and backpacks, says Marsh.
Friendships That Bridge Religious Boundaries
Lowe met Marsh through a mutual friend. When they started talking about their respective congregations, they realized that Bet Shalom’s Rabbi Avi Alpert and Hope City’s Pastor Jeff Logsdon had a lot in common.
Besides being similar in age, “we have a lot of crossover in terms of our respective approaches to what we’re trying to do to help our people,” says Alpert.
Marsh arranged a meeting and the two clergymen hit it off. “We’ve become very good friends,” says Alpert.
“The backstory,” he says, “is that Jeff is involved with Christians United for Israel and I have a longstanding connection with that organization,” including friendships with other pastors.
Logsdon has attended several services at Bet Shalom and Alpert has been a guest speaker at Hope City.
Along with sandwich-making, the congregations have partnered on other programs to aid people in the neighborhood of the church, such as collecting clothing and items for hygiene kits.
“Our people have gotten to know their people and vice versa,” says Alpert. “This summer, we did an event at Mt. Lemmon, just to go hiking. It was wonderful.”
It doesn’t bother Alpert that Harvest912 takes its name from Christian scripture,”even though I must say that I strongly disagree with Christianity,” he says, adding that he and Logsdon talk freely about their religious differences.
Harvest912 is a valuable program, the rabbi says, noting that “it makes many people uncomfortable even to acknowledge that there are people in that kind of need.”
“I think it’s healthy for people in the Jewish community to interact with unhoused people. Any time that we can come together for the common good, it’s great,” he says.
Marsh, an attorney who spent much of her career as a special agent for the FBI, acknowledges that people can be intimidated by the idea of working with the unhoused population.
New Harvest912 volunteers sometimes say, “‘I want to volunteer but I don’t want to wash feet.’ And it doesn’t take long, they get sucked in. There’s something kind of intimate and magical about it,” Marsh says. “I think in an environment where there’s specified boundaries, people aren’t asking for money, people aren’t trying to see if you’ll house them, it’s pretty simple.”
A Volunteer with Four Paws and a Heart of Gold
Marsh had hoped Bet Shalom member Bernie Engelhard could bring his therapy dog, Bella, to the foot clinic at Gospel Rescue Mission.
Although the mission nixed that idea, Bella, an English cream golden retriever, will be on hand for the next mini clinic at Hope City on Dec. 7.
Engelhard and his wife, Elinor, got Bella through Southern Arizona Golden Retriever Rescue almost four years ago. Bella will appear in SAGRR’s 2025 calendar as Miss July.
Bella is certified by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. She participates in the Read to a Dog program at two elementary schools, helps at-risk kids at a residential treatment center build core strengths such as teamwork and empathy, and visits with patients and staff at the VA Hospital.
At the hospital, Engelhard and Bella spend at least five minutes with each patient.
“I’ve rarely had anyone say I’m not interested in having a therapy dog visit,” he says, noting that studies have shown petting a therapy dog can reduce a person’s blood pressure by up to six points.
“Anxiety goes down, endorphins go up; all those good things,” he says, adding that Bella has also visited with University of Arizona students during finals week.
At the upcoming foot clinic, which will be a new experience for Engelhard and Bella, he anticipates she will help reduce anxiety people may have about letting another person wash their feet.
She should have plenty of people to meet there — at the Gospel Rescue Mission, Marsh handed out 50 mini clinic invitations to people who couldn’t be seen there but were interested in having their feet washed and getting new shoes.
For information about volunteering at a foot clinic, contact Marsh at 520-878-7674 or marshkari@hotmail.com.
