SAN DIEGO — Hunger can often hide in plain sight, affecting thousands of people in San Diego County. With food insecurity tied to things like lack of affordable housing, low-wage jobs and rising medical costs, it’s easy to understand why nearly one in four San Diegans experiences nutrition insecurity. Community Resource Center works to nourish, empower and change the lives of local families for the better. John Van Cleef, CEO of Community Resource Center, joins our Laura Cavanaugh to share more about their mission and how a recent grant from SDG&E’s Community Assistance Fund will help them expand their impact.
“We are seeing a 69% increase over last year of people coming to us for emergency assistance, people who need food today for today,” John Van Cleef, CEO of Community Resource Center. “Those are pandemic level numbers.”
Poverty is the common thread among people who come to Community Resource Center (CRC) for food and housing assistance, particularly older adults. For more than 40 years, CRC has provided food, stable homes and safety from domestic violence to neighbors in need in north county San Diego. Their programs offer wraparound services, addressing the inter-related challenges faced by clients experiencing hunger, homelessness and domestic violence.
Hunger affects thousands of people in our county and encompasses a broad spectrum of individuals and families struggling to put food on their tables. The nonprofit’s volunteers see this each day at the food pantry at CRC, where participants are afforded the dignity of choice to select the healthy and nutritious foods they want and need.
This year, CRC has seen a marked increase in the number of requests for food assistance at their food pantry. From January – October of this year, CRC has seen a 69% increase over last year for households needing emergency food, and a 44% increase in assistance requests across all CRC food programs.
CRC is successfully meeting the increased demand for food assistance. The $250,000 grant from SDG&E’s Community Assistance Fund is funding expansion of their food and nutrition program that will provide increased access to healthy food for several groups:
- Low-income earners: Individuals and families that are employed, sometimes holding down multiple jobs, but struggling to make ends meet. In our county, 30% of full-time workers are bringing home less than $35,000 per year. The high cost of housing, rising cost of living and stagnant wages force many to choose between rent, utilities, purchasing medication or buying groceries.
- Senior citizens: many older Americans are living on fixed incomes which may not cover all their needs, especially as medical expenses often increase with age. CRC’s food pantry saw an increase of 28% in seniors needing assistance this summer, compared to last summer. This increase is a result of a 40% increase in seniors needing emergency food assistance, one of CRC’s food programs, meaning they were caught short of funds and unable to afford food. The County of San Diego Board of Supervisors recently implemented a shallow subsidy pilot program to provide modest funds to help older adults keep their housing. The program is based on research that older adults represent the fastest growing age group of the people experiencing homelessness in San Diego with one out of four homeless adults over the age of 55. Among this group, 88% became homeless in San Diego County and 43% are experiencing homelessness for the first time in their lives. Homelessness among older adults disproportionately impacts communities of color. By providing food assistance, seniors may be able to continue in their homes without going hungry.
- Children: It is estimated that 29% of children in San Diego County, more than 1 in 4, are food insecure. How can a child learn and grow, do well in school and sports, when their stomachs are growling and they don’t know if there will be food for them at home?
“CRC’s food and nutrition program expansion will help address these challenges, creating more access to nutritious food for these populations in our community. Providing food decreases food insecurity, frees up funds for rent and other monthly expenses, and thus helps to keep more households in their homes. CRC’s food program is a critical piece of our homelessness prevention activities. We’re excited to expand our services to meet the increased needs of our community,” stated John Van Cleef, CRC’s CEO.
CRC’s food and nutrition program expansion will include:
- Expanded hours at CRC’s Food and Nutrition Center in Encinitas.
- A new mobile food pantry to distribute free, nutritious fresh and nonperishable food to low-income and underserved populations, including senior-living complexes, veterans and persons with disabilities, and low-income neighborhoods where families face transportation or other barriers to food access.
- A new program coordinator and a driver will support this expanded distribution, allowing current staff to maintain distribution of emergency food assistance, ongoing food distribution, and CalFresh enrollment assistance to participants at the Center in Encinitas.
The food and nutrition program expansion will make it easier for more households to receive the help they need, so they can feed themselves and their families with fresh, nutritious food.
CRC’s mission is to help our neighbors create paths to healthy food, stable homes and safe relationships. Founded in 1979, CRC serves more than 6,400 individuals in coastal North County San Diego each year without regard to race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or immigration status.
Information on CRC’s food program may be found at crcncc.org/get-help/food-and-nutrition-services or by emailing intake@crcncc.org.
The community can support CRC with monetary donations, food donations and volunteering.
Find out how to provide help and hope to neighbors in need. For more information, visit www.crcncc.org/get-involved
Donations may be made securely at www.crcncc.org/give.
And to learn more about how SDG&E is powering positive change and for a full list of the grant recipients, visit www.sdge.com/community
Sponsored by: SDG&E