CCDC was recently recognized by Community Through Hope. Please see the following excerpt from their newsletter and follow the link for the full article.
Emergency Senior Support Services July-September 2020
After Casa Familiar (Casa) received an initial small grant of $1,000 in May 2020 to support emergency services for seniors during the pandemic, a second round of funding was awarded from Community Congregational Development Corporation (CCDC) in July 2020 in the amount of $26,352. Over half of this second round of funding ($15,000) was earmarked for direct financial assistance to seniors having difficulty paying bills due to the pandemic. The rest of the funding went to continue providing emergency services to seniors in the community including food assistance and connection to local resources.
Outcomes
This second round of funding from CCDC made it possible for Casa to provide the following emergency senior support services between July-October 2020.
Food assistance: Weekly hot meal delivery to seniors in San Ysidro
720 meals were provided to seniors over the course of 12 weeks, 60 meals per week
Recipients included formerly homeless seniors who recently moved into the newly built San Ysidro Senior Village permanent supportive housing complex and low-income seniors living in the surrounding neighborhood.
Meals were provided by local, family-owned restaurant, El Rincon. They were traditional Mexican dishes, prepared with the health of our seniors in mind. Funding helped support this small business, whose generosity started and sustains the meal delivery.
Casa staff deliver the weekly meals door-to-door and use the opportunity to remain connected with our senior clients and check-in on their well-being
Connection to local resources: Delivery of printed newsletters
3 editions of Casa’s bilingual printed newsletters were created to help provide
digitally disconnected seniors with information about available local resources
A total of 1,260 newsletters were distributed
180 newsletters were hand delivered to seniors along with their weekly meals
680 newsletters were mailed out to seniors living the South Bay registered in Casa’s client database
400 newsletters were given out during local food distribution events
See the English side of the newsletters for July, August, and September below.
Newsletters are printed in large format on 11”x17” paper for easy reading
Rental/Utility Assistance: Direct payments to help seniors in need pay outstanding bills
Financial assistance was provided to a total of 34 low-income seniors living in the South Bay including
o Rent assistance for 21 individuals
o SDGE past-due bill payment assistance for 4 individuals
o Car repair assistance for 3 individuals
o Auto loan payment assistance for 2 individuals
o Medical bill assistance, hearing aid purchase, credit payoff assistance and food expense assistance each for 1 individual
Along with the direct financial assistance, individuals received help with budgeting and financial coaching from Casa’s Financial Opportunities Center
A total of $15,000 was given out in direct financial assistance thanks to CCDC
Conclusion
With this second round of funding from CCDC, Casa was able to support over 1,000 seniors in the South Bay with either food, connection to resources, or direct financial assistance. We were also able to give back to CCDC by helping get our senior program participants to fill out CCDC’s needs survey.
The budgeted funding for food assistance ran out at the end of September. Since that time we have continued delivering weekly meals, but had to decrease from 60 to 20 individuals. The local restaurant, El Rincon, is donating the meals and Casa is donating the staff time through the end of the calendar year. Casa continues to produce bilingual newsletters on a semi-monthly basis. Newsletters are distributed at food banks and throughout the community, but not mailed out to individual households. Lastly, Casa continues to support low-income seniors with financial coaching, applications for government benefits, and connection to financial assistance whenever available.
We thank CCDC for their support of our programs and the seniors in our community. In 2021, Casa looks forward to continuing to support seniors living in isolation through innovative and culturally sensitive programming. This will include starting up as the new on-site service provider at two low-income senior apartment complexes in San Ysidro with a total of 160 units. We hope to continue collaborating with CCDC to provide much needed programs to seniors in our community.
Silvana Alanís knows what it is like not to have food on the table. That is why she wants to make sure that in these difficult times, her neighbors don’t go through that.
Every Friday, Alanís, the owner of El Rincón restaurant in San Ysidro prepares, along with her team, 60 meals that are distributed mostly to seniors as part of a program of the community organization Casa Familiar.
Thanks to a fund from the Community Congregational Development Corp., about $15,000 was allocated to help individuals who need support to pay their rent, mortgage, or utilities, and nearly $11,500 to a weekly hot meal delivery program for seniors in San Ysidro.
The program started during the beginning of the pandemic, when Lisa Cuestas, executive director of Casa Familiar, heard of a COVID-19-positive single mother who was living alone and had run out of food. The Casa Familiar team prepared meals with what they had at home with the intention of dropping it off at the woman’s front door.
Someone from the team went to the El Rincón restaurant to buy soup and when Silvana heard the story she immediately offered to help, even if she did not get paid. That’s how the collaboration began.
Casa Familiar identified more people who needed assistance, and Silvana’s restaurant helped with the meals. It wasn’t until they received funding that the groups were able to provide food on a recurring basis. Now the plan is to continue for at least three more months.
Most of the meals are distributed to residents at the San Ysidro Senior Village, a new permanent supportive housing complex for formerly homeless seniors.
Silvana is willing to help in any way she can.
“Early in my life I went through hardship, and today I feel the need to help others,” said Alanís, a Mexican immigrant who bought the restaurant three years ago.
A native of Guadalajara, Jalisco, she came with her family to the U.S. almost 30 years ago. They immigrated at the invitation of a family friend who gave them shelter, but after a week, they were forced to look for another place since they were a family of eight.
To make a living they would get up early every morning and collect cans from garbage bins around town just to gather enough money to buy the ingredients needed to make tamales and sell them every afternoon. That was their daily life for several years.
“I remember that we were happy if we earned enough to have a shrimp Maruchan soup,” she said.
Eventually, her family found financial stability and later she got married, worked in different ventures selling cellphones and working in a money transfer business, until three years ago when Silvana and her family opened their restaurant in San Ysidro.
Casa Familiar workers take food from the restaurant for delivery to those in need.
(Alexandra Mendoza – U-T )
When the health emergency left many people out of work, she knew she had to do something to help her neighborhood. “Right now, we are all in survival mode. People need to eat and pay rent, and then we can worry about the rest.”
Veronica Flores, 44, is one of the beneficiaries. She learned about the program since she called the county’s 211 line in search of pantry items.
Her husband, a construction worker recently diagnosed with diabetes, lost some jobs due to the pandemic.
For now, they rely on their savings and some jobs that come up sporadically. “The little I earn is for rent or medical bills,” said her husband, Valentin Benitez.
In times of hardship it gives them peace of mind to know that at least every Friday they receive food and some groceries. “It helps a lot. It’s like a miracle,”Flores said.
For Teresa Gallegos, 80, the program is a “blessing” since for her safety she has not left her apartment in months.
During the week, she prepares her food with the groceries her family brings to her, but on Friday she takes a break with the meal from Casa Familiar.
“I feel happy, and I am very grateful for what they are doing for us.”
Each week, cars line up outside our warehouse before it opens for the drive-thru food distributions. Even on days with 90-degree temperatures, our volunteers show up to guide the drivers through the parking lot of our warehouse in Northwest Chula Vista. They heft 40-pound bags and boxes of nutrition into the vehicle trunks – food that will last the week for many families.
Hard to believe it has been six months since COVID-19 stay-at-home orders began! In that time CTH has humbly taken on the task of providing emergency nutrition to the residents of the South Bay.
The result? As of this week, our volunteers and partners have distributed over 3 million pounds of nutrition – from rice and cereals to canned goods and fresh potatoes, lemons, apples and more. This number is sobering because the need is so great. CTH is now a Super Pantry in partnership with the San Diego Food Bank and a Regional Distribution Hub for Feeding San Diego. Together, we can continue to make a difference.
Many seniors are in need during this time. CTH has directed 1/5th of its resources to senior services, from nutrition and hygiene products to emergency needs, in partnership with Community Congregational Development Corporation (CCDC).
CCDC is seeking to better understand the needs of seniors in our community. Please take 5 minutes to help them gather data to inform their planning. Simply click on the link below to take the survey and provide input. Thank you for your time.
About Community Through Hope: Community Through Hope evolved through several incarnations over the last 10 years of grassroots experience and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Chula Vista, California. Our mission is to foster hope for a better life for those facing food insecurity and for those without a permanent home by providing a hand up through innovative and compassionate programs with equality, dignity and respect. We work with partners including Feeding San Diego and the San Diego Food Bank to provide emergency nutrition to our community. Volunteer with CTH!
(Alexandra Mendoza – U-T)
(Alexandra Mendoza – U-T )
