By Isabela Gamez
The Primavera Foundation
For nearly three decades, members of Lutheran Church of the Foothills have shown up for the Tucson community with warm meals, open hearts and a commitment to serving others. Today, that partnership with Primavera Foundation continues to grow through a new initiative supporting residents at Star Village — thoughtfully prepared breakfast bags designed to offer more than just nourishment.
Led by Pastor Naomi Hartman, the congregation has embraced service as a core part of its mission.
“I am the congregational leader,” Hartman said, “but really follow the direction of the congregation members as they want to be out in the community and help them partner in ways that they want to be of service.”
That spirit of service has deep roots. Beth Daum, who has been a member of the church since 1985, remembers when the congregation first became involved with Primavera in the mid-1990s.
“I was here when we first started serving and volunteering with Primavera in 1995,” Daum said. “(Co-Founder) Nancy Bissell came and gave a talk to Lutheran Social Services of Arizona at that time about her and Gordon (Packard) starting this project. So I brought it back here, and one of our fellow servants took off with it.”
What began as a simple effort soon became a longstanding ministry of preparing meals for Primavera clients. Over the years, volunteers organized menus, coordinated schedules and built a reliable system centered around hospitality and human connection.
“One of the things our volunteers love most is the opportunity to sit and talk with the men while they’re eating,” Daum said. “Helping them not only get a nutritious meal but talk to them about where they are in life, how they’re doing — the volunteers really enjoy that contact.”
The church’s signature stew dinners became a tradition, though recently the congregation adjusted the menu to make volunteering more accessible.
“We changed the menu to something that people could spend less time having to prepare,” Hartman said. “Because stew is a pretty significant time commitment to cook.”
The updated meal — a white chicken chili — has already been a hit among both volunteers and residents.
“The men loved it,” Daum said.
Now, the church is expanding its outreach through breakfast bags for STAR Village, a collaborative housing initiative supported by Primavera Foundation, the City of Tucson and Old Pueblo Community Services that serves women and non-binary individuals experiencing homelessness.
“When we saw the information coming out about STAR Village last fall, we were especially drawn to the fact that it was going to meet people where they are,” Hartman said. “It was specifically going to address a community that is underserved.”
Motivated to help, the congregation secured support through the Grand Canyon Synod to launch the breakfast bag program. But for Hartman and church members, the bags were never meant to be just another food donation.
“We wanted to make sure these bags weren’t just, ‘Here is some sustenance,’” Hartman said. “We wanted them to feel like a warm hug — like someone is thinking about you.”
Inside each bag is food carefully selected to provide comfort and energy for the day ahead, along with a handwritten affirmation card created by volunteers.
“What we really want the bag to represent is not just food, but that someone is thinking of them,” Hartman said. “That they know they are of value and worth in their community.”
The affirmation cards have also transformed the volunteer experience itself. During the church’s first bag-packing event, volunteers moved so quickly through the assembly process that organizers realized the cards helped slow everyone down and refocus on the people receiving the bags.
“It allows them to tell someone, ‘We care about you. You are seen and heard,’” Hartman said. “We want folks to know that someone is cheering on their success.”
That message aligns closely with the mission of STAR Village, which has already shown strong outcomes for residents transitioning toward stable housing. For the congregation, supporting that success means building relationships rooted in dignity, encouragement and hope.
“We know that the work Primavera is doing is leading to changed lives,” Hartman said. “We want to be part of the encouragement of that work and continue to tell that story. We want to remind the people there: ‘You’ve got this. You can do this.’”
As volunteers continue preparing meals and breakfast bags, the partnership between Lutheran Church of the Foothills and Primavera reflects something larger than service alone: a shared commitment to ensuring every member of the community feels supported, valued and cared for.
