By Khalida Sarwari
Not long from now, residents will start seeing an RV in various spots around the West Valley, and maybe even have flashbacks of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman at work in their infamous Fleetwood Bounder-turned-meth lab on the hit series “Breaking Bad.” But this RV will dole out something far better.
Operated by nonprofit West Valley Community Services, the 38-foot white RV is a “mobile pantry” of sorts that will be used to deliver food and groceries, as well as necessities and supportive services, to seniors and low-income residents in Saratoga, Los Gatos and west San Jose. Residents can pick up items such as rice, beans and canned and dried goods and at the same time, talk to a member of West Valley Community Services about case management and referral services.
The RV’s main cabin will be set up as an office where people can talk to a staff member about how to navigate MediCal or food stamp enrollment, for example, or get referrals to mental health agencies or entities that help seniors or the disabled.
West Valley Community Services provides services to low-income people in the town of Los Gatos and the cities of Cupertino, Saratoga and San Jose. The organization’s new executive director, Josh Selo, came up with the mobile pantry idea when he and his colleagues realized people were struggling to get to their office in Cupertino, either because of transportation issues, work schedules or family obligations.
While there are an estimated 22,000 people who are believed to be living in poverty in the West Valley region, the organization only sees about 8,000 of them, Selo said.
“So the first question is, ‘Why don’t we know more of them?’ ” he said. Upon further research, he and his colleagues pinned down lack of access to reliable transportation and lack of awareness as the main reasons. They had one client from Los Gatos, he said, who spent eight hours commuting to and from the West Valley Community Services office one day, and the food he picked up from them was no longer edible by the time he reached home, said Selo.
“We saw the potential for a mobile pantry to alleviate these challenges by helping people in the community in which they live and work,” he said.
After kicking around other ideas–one of which was a nonprofit version of the ride-sharing company Uber–and being inspired by Toronto’s Mobile Good Food Market, which operates as sort of a grocery store on wheels, Selo and his colleagues settled on the mobile food pantry idea. Immediately, he noticed there was “a lot of energy and excitement around this idea.”
“I’m a little baffled myself,” he said. “We’re very lucky to have government leaders who care so deeply about the needs of the community.”
So far, only two locations in Saratoga have been identified as host sites for the mobile pantry, but there are more on the way, said Selo. For now, West Valley College and Westhope Presbyterian Church will be getting the RV in late August. Most locations will likely be close to local transit lines, Selo said.
Once fully operational, use of the RV will be split between West Valley Community Services and Community Services Agency, a social services agency that serves residents in Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
“Ultimately, the goal is for no one to go hungry in the West Valley and for anyone who is facing a human service crisis to have full access to support services that they have a right to,” said Selo.
The program is expected to cost about $158,000 annually. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved funding for the first three years of the program in June at the suggestion of Supervisor Joe Simitian. The money will go toward staffing, maintenance and operation of the vehicle. The RV was donated by Second Harvest Food Bank, which used the vehicle for its food stamp drives, according to Selo.
West Valley Community Services staff is looking for additional funding opportunities well into the future, Selo said. That could mean tapping into corporate sponsorships, soliciting individual donations or even returning before the county board of supervisors.
“If this is a real success and we can demonstrate that we are filling a need, we can go back to the supervisors and ask them to consider continuing their support,” he said.
Simitian said the mobile pantry would especially benefit seniors and low-income residents.
“The surest way to make certain people in need get the food and services they need is to bring the food and services to them,” said Simitian. “Whether it’s putting food on the table, finding housing or looking for a job, this program will make it easier for folks to get the help they need.”
Link:
Los Gatos, Saratoga: RV is hitting the road to help those in need
