From Parks to Programs: How Megan Perez Found Her Voice

At 16, Megan Perez grabbed the clothes on her back, boarded a train from Los Angeles to Salem, and stepped into a safe house closet that became her bed—and the start of a new life. In this episode, John Marshall sits down with Megan to trace her journey from a childhood marked by domestic violence, housing instability, and park-for-the-night survival, to becoming a youth pastor, case manager, program developer, and deeply trusted leader in homeless services across the Mid-Willamette Valley.Megan shares how acting as a “shield” for her mom and siblings shaped her sense of responsibility, why she didn’t initially recognize her own homelessness, and the moment at Church at the Park’s managed camping pilot when she realized, within an hour, “I can never do anything else with my life.” She reflects on supporting adults and youth in shelters, hotel turn-keys, and transitional housing, the limits of “housing first” when community is lost, and why collaboration, wraparound care, and honest stories matter more than neat outcomes. Along the way she names the people whose memories anchor her work, challenges common myths about people “coming for resources,” and offers a hopeful, honest vision of what it means for a community to truly show up for its neighbors.