Growing need means space expansion for nonprofit
Demand for food and social services has grown almost fivefold in some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Now, the sole full-service social services provider in Cupertino and other West Valley cities is starting renovations sooner than expected and planning a mobile pantry to respond to a still-growing population in need.
West Valley Community Services on Sept. 16 unveiled its temporary facility in Cupertino’s The Oaks shopping center. The temporary digs, set to open next month, will serve more than 22,000 people living in poverty while WVCS’S 18-year-old center, located around the corner from The Oaks, gets a makeover.
The nonprofit also announced plans for a mobile food pantry, which is expected to be up and running in three to four months.
“They’ve helped me tremendously with rent, food,” said Kenneth Garay, a former hotel worker and father of two, speaking in Spanish. “It’s a hard situation, COVID-19. We need to invest in programs like this that reinvest in our community.”
The center is the only provider of food and rent support services in Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, West San Jose and Cupertino. The region is home to some of the richest ZIP codes in Silicon Valley, with median home values up to $2 million, but even here many are struggling with the economic fallout from COVID-19.
“It’s been a constant stream of folks needing support for the very first time in their lives,” said WVCS executive director Josh Selo. The center serves low-income residents who make less than $31,000 a year. Selo said hundreds of new clients have showed up since March.
The revamped building and new mobile food pantry, dubbed the “Parkit Market,” will both take the form of small markets where clients will be able to choose the food they want. COVID-19 restrictions have forced WVCS to pre-bag food for clients, something staff wants to get away from.
“We believe each person should choose what they feed themselves and their family,” Selo said in an interview with this newspaper.
The new facility should open within six months and will boast a food pantry double the size of the old one, designed to allow for social distancing. West Valley raised $2,125,000 for the new facilities through a one-year campaign.
Construction is expected to started before the end of the year and should take five months, during which West Valley will serve clients from the temporary location at The Oaks, space that is being donated by Silicon Valley developer and The Oaks owner KT Urban.
“West Valley has helped us immensely with housing transition and with the food pantry during COVID-19,” said Gayelynn Miller, a retired Silicon Valley resident who takes care of her niece and nephew. “With the pantry going mobile, it’s going to help a lot of people.”
Unlike WVCS’S current mobile pantry, the new model will be equipped with a pass-through window so clients can order their groceries from a safe social distance.
“Right now, we don’t have the capacity to drive up and start service,” Selo said in an interview.
The Park-it Market will give WVCS that capacity, he added, and allow the nonprofit to serve more than one location a day.
“We can go to wherever there’s a demand in our service area,” Selo said. “It makes more sense than another brick-and-mortar location.”