TWO SAN JOSE NONPROFITS have stepped up to help families struggling with food insecurity.
Grail Family Services and Sacred Heart Community Service are providing groceries for families, including many who rely on CalFresh, California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Grail Family Services provided 100 families each with $150 vouchers for groceries at Arteaga’s Food Center, when the federal government halted and then delayed food aid benefits. This was made possible through a $10,000 grant from Destination: Home and $5,000 from Arteaga’s Food Center. Grail Family Services wants to provide another grocery voucher for families close to Christmas.
The nonprofit, with roots in East San Jose, provides child care, preschool, support groups, parent education and professional development to families. It partners with schools and communities to promote childhood well-being.
Veronica Goei, executive director of Grail Family Services, said the SNAP freeze added family stress and children are still coming in hungry.
“It’s about showing up for families and telling families, ‘We’re here for you. You’re valued,’” she told San José Spotlight. “It trickles down to those children. There’s a need right now and we’ll just do what we can.”
Goei said food insecurity is an ongoing crisis in Santa Clara County and has an impact on childhood behavioral development.
“Kids get tired, lose concentration. There are also long-term impacts … in brain development,” she said.
Community steps up
According to Santa Clara County officials, CalFresh provides about $25.5 million in food assistance monthly to about 130,000 of its residents. California acted quickly to issue full benefits to all CalFresh recipients for November following a federal court order reinstating SNAP funds, county spokesperson Peter Gallotta told San José Spotlight.
Goei said East San Jose residents are resilient, hardworking and resourceful. The community stepped up to help support the nonprofit during the recession.
“We told the families we’re going to have to close on Fridays,” she said. “They worked for three days making tamales and they raised $3,000. It was incredibly touching. I talked to the board … to funders, and we got the money and remained open. But there’s that the kind of (community) strength.”
Demone Carter, director of community engagement for Sacred Heart Community Service, said up to 700 people a day come to the nonprofit for food. Carter said instability and insecurity are created when people’s access to food is uncertain.
“There’s definitely a palpable sense of fear about the lack of resources. We’re doing our best to offset it.”
Demone Carter, Sacred Heart Community Service
“When you couple that with threats of ICE activity and all of the other myriad challenges this (federal) administration throws at us, it makes it difficult for working families,” he told San José Spotlight. “There’s definitely a palpable sense of fear about the lack of resources. We’re doing our best to offset it.”
Carter said Sacred Heart’s distribution of food boxes during the holidays will be even more vital this year with rising food costs. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the nonprofit plans to give out 7,000 boxes of food. He said each of these boxes is worth $200 to $250 and includes a choice of turkey, chicken or ham, non-perishable goods, bread, fresh fruit and vegetables.
“We have to ask ourselves, what kind of community do we want?” Carter said. “Are we going to come together to make sure that there’s a functional safety net so that the folks at the bottom of this economy are not sleeping in their cars and kids are able to have a good meal before they go to school?”
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email protected].
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.