As families this morning were preparing for the Bridgeport Christmas Parade and other hometown activities, 18-year-old Thomas Jessup got on his bicycle and continued on his ride to Washington DC.

 

For the last few nights, Jessop and his dad have been sleeping in the Lowes parking lot in their home on wheels.

 

“It’s a 1983 diesel Volkswagen van, cut off at the wheels with a GMC school bus welded to the front,” Jessop said.

 

The team arrived in Bridgeport about 5 p.m. Wednesday. They originally departed from San Francisco; Jessop on his bike, followed by his support team in the bus.

 

"Team Jessop Across America" is on a mission. After completing his coast to coast ride, Jessop will be lobbying Congress for his cause – the “Half-Homeless,” people who have lost their homes and are forced to live in their vehicles.

 

“We’re trying to get federal funding for our cause – the National Safe Parking Program,” said Jessop, co-founder of the program.  

 

He’s striving to see 100 programs - like the one in his hometown - implemented all across the country.

 

Jessop said he knows firsthand how important the program is to those down on their luck, living in their vehicles and in need of a safe place to park and sleep until they get back on their feet.

“A local version of it helped me and my family in Santa Barbara where I live,” he said. “It was originally the only safe parking program in Santa Barbara. Other programs have started up organically – for the most part - on their own. Unfortunately, they’re all on the west coast and they’re needed everywhere.”

 

Jessop has been advocating for the cause since he was 14 years old. That’s when he made his first coast-to-coast ride. The next year, he did it again, this time from San Francisco to Washington D.C. then down the East Coast to the tip of Florida along the Gulf Coast and then to Austin TX -  over 6,200 miles. At age 16, he did a repeat ride. He began his fourth ride on Sept. 2 at age 17. He celebrated his 18^th birthday while in Bridgeport.

 

Along his coast-to-coast rides, he raises funds for his cause by speaking to churches and other organizations.

 

Jessop said he and his family members are passionate about establishing safe parking programs for the half-homeless and feel they are on the right track.

 

“We’ve made tremendous progress,” he said. “We go back to Congress again and again, but we do believe it’s just a matter of time. It’s a very large ship and it takes a long time to turn.”