Once homeless, east Orange woman fights to feed the needy

Once homeless, east Orange woman fights to feed the needy

Kate Santich | [Orlando] Sentinel Staff Writer
[published] August 14, 2007

Migdalia Pagan is hardly a wealthy woman. She lives in a modest east Orange County mobile-home park with two of her children, a nephew and her husband, who makes about $400 a week as a roofer.

Yet each weekday at noon for the past three months, she has prepared a hearty hot meal for about 20 homeless people, spending a quarter of her family's income and sometimes even pawning her jewelry to buy the groceries.

"Right now, I have a two-tone cross -- white gold and yellow gold -- at the pawn shop," said Pagan, 42. "I have to do something. I can't let these people eat out of dumpsters. They might get sick."

To the homeless of east Orange County, many of whom live in the woods and rely on bicycles or walking for transportation, Pagan is a godsend. To the private owners of the Shadow Hills mobile-home community where she lives, Pagan is an aggravation.

After three months of letting her use one of two spacious, air-conditioned community centers for the hot lunches, the owners locked her out Monday. They told her last week that she can use the facility only to feed people who live in the park.

"The clubhouse is there for the benefit of the community," said Scott Gesell, president of corporate operations for American Residential Communities, which owns Shadow Hills. "We have no problem with her using it for that purpose, but our understanding is that there are only two to three people from the community at her feedings, while there are 15 to 20 from outside."

Moreover, Gesell said, the homeless have a tendency to "loiter" after the meal -- a claim that Pagan denies.

"These people don't bother anybody," she said. "And I'm going to feed them regardless of whether they let me use the clubhouse or not."

Pagan said Shadow Hills officials told her that she could continue her venture if she rented out the clubhouse for feedings -- at $400 a day. No one at Shadow Hills would comment, and Gesell said there would be a fee, but he didn't know how much.

The facility sat empty Monday as Pagan scrambled to find some shade for the diners. She settled on the parking lot of a now-closed Pizza Hut on State Road 50 -- though the heat was oppressive. Pagan shuttled over two of the homeless in her car, while a friend took several others.

Once there, she served up trays of barbecued chicken, baked potatoes, green salad, corn, bread, pudding and iced tea.

"She's a sweetheart -- a very Christian woman -- to come out here and feed us," said 44-year-old John Hensley, who handed her a small floral arrangement to show his appreciation. "I think the world of her."

Hensley, homeless for 10 years, has Parkinson's disease. His hands trembled as he carried his plate of food to a spot on the curb. Mark Mesluk, 45, said he is a veteran with a son killed while fighting in Iraq. He now battles post-traumatic stress disorder and is bipolar.

"Without this lady here, I'd have to hit the dumpster," he said. "But this beautiful lady -- she is a gift from God."

Of the two dozen diners, some were freshly showered and looking for work, and some weren't. Some were sober, others not.

It didn't matter to Pagan.

"I was homeless myself at one time," she said later. "I had a daughter who died from SIDS [sudden infant death syndrome] and that drove me to depression, and the depression drove me to into a heavy alcohol habit.

"I've been where they are. I know what it is to be hungry."

Those days -- now more than a decade ago -- were desperate. She even served a month in jail once for having beaten a man who stole from her. She was arrested on a charge of stealing a can of soup.

"I don't like remembering my past," she said. "I did things I should have not have done."

But now, she says, she has dedicated herself to following her faith. Her New Vision Ministries, as she has dubbed her charity-in-the-making, is aimed simply at helping people with whatever they need.

Today, with the purchase of an open-sided tent to offer shade and some tables and chairs borrowed from her church, she plans to serve lunch on the small patch of grass in her front yard.

"The homeless will be my guests," she said. "I can have anyone I want as a guest at my home."

To help Migdalia Pagan's ministry, call 407-233-4203.

Kate Santich can be reached at ksantich@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5503.