With food and supplies, Framingham neighbors tell city's homeless: 'You're not alone'

FRAMINGHAM — Cheniel Garcia knows that a few slices of pizza and a toiletry kit won’t end homelessness overnight, but he hopes they’ll put a smile on people’s faces — and that’s a start.

Wanting to give back to their community, Garcia and fellow Framingham native Ernesto Nichols-Muñoz rallied friends and family on the Downtown Common Saturday to feed the city’s homeless population and provide care packages full of basic necessities.

“I was always into giving back, helping people, speaking to people, and lately we’ve seen how the community’s been down,” explained Garcia, who also raps under the stage name Young Biggs. “(There’s been) a lot of overdoses; in the last year, we lost about six of our friends to overdose, and people that we grew up with.”

'You guys are not alone'

Saturday’s event, made possible by community donations and sponsorships from local businesses, came together in about a month, he said. Family Style Pizza, Freshest Autospa, L’sUp Entertainment, DC Working Hands, La Pupusa Loca Grill, El Barber Corp, DC Auto Recon and Sweet Spot were some of the businesses that chipped in.

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By giving back, Garcia said event organizers hoped to send a message to people facing housing insecurity: “We know you guys are suffering. We know you guys are in the dark, but we want to show you guys that we care… We’re here to bring you guys a smile and let you know that you guys are not alone.”

Nichols-Muñoz, who runs the restaurant Nesto’s Kitchen, said he wanted to help inspire change after several of his friends died of drug overdoses. The Northborough resident hopes to educate the community about what to do in the event of an overdose, and would eventually like to help make Narcan — a medicine that reverses opioid overdoses — more accessible.

“I’m doing this for my community,” he said. “I’m sick and tired of people dropping for the drugs that are going around town. They’re all good people; they just make bad choices, and we only have one life to live.”

Garcia said he knows firsthand what it’s like to turn a life around, having done so himself after spending more than four years in prison.

Road to redemption: After prison, Framingham's Cheniel Garcia turning his life around

“It’s a beautiful thing, man,” the Marlborough resident said, surveying the crowd. “It’s not about changing lives, but it’s about bringing smiles.”

'Downtown Framingham needs to be touched'

Those who stopped by the common could eat their fill of pizza and snacks, stock up on water and pick up a care package containing toiletries, underwear, socks, T-shirts, snacks and other supplies.

Lillian Munoz, Ernesto’s mother and one of the event’s volunteers, said she was thankful to the neighborhood, the city and “to everybody who has embraced the mission, the idea, the love and helped make this possible.”

Troy Hatfield, who has roots in Framingham but is facing housing insecurity, said the promise of a meal drew him downtown.

“It feels good; it looks good, too — all different types of walks of life,” he said of the event.

Likewise, Tomas Medina said it “feels good” to see neighbors come together.

“I don’t have a place to live, so it’s good for me,” he said of the resources available.

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Framingham resident Tammy Perrault was passing through downtown when she noticed the event, and said she stopped by to support its mission.

“Downtown Framingham needs to be touched,” she said. “They (homeless people) really need people to reach out to them, and they need to know that there are people out here to help them, and that people care about them and that they don’t have to be afraid.”

She added: “We need more stuff like this out here in Framingham.”

Garcia said he hopes to organize similar events in the future, possibly one in the fall with a focus on distributing warm clothing for the winter.

The work is incremental, added Nichols-Muñoz.

“Little by little, you know?” he said.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham's Cheniel Garcia, Nesto Nichols-Muñoz feed homeless people