Core Safety-Net Programs

Emergency Food Assistance

EHP provides boxes of food to meet basic nutritional needs of families, as well as to individuals experiencing temporary emergency needs or special circumstances, such as long-term illness.  The food boxes are nutritionally balanced, containing protein, vegetables, grains, cereals, and canned goods.  They are prepared with an understanding of the cultural and ethnic preferences of each family. 

Hot Meal Program

EHP, along with the St. Vincent De Paul Society, prepares and serves hot meals to needy individuals and families every Wednesday night at St. Francis of Assisi Church in East Palo Alto.  Some of those served are homeless, while others are families with children who take advantage of this program to conserve the limited funds they have. 

St. Francis of Assisi Church

1425 Bay Road

East Palo Alto, CA 94303

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Please call (650) 323-7781 if you have any questions.

Personal Support

Many clients come to EHP with multiple needs that require personal, ongoing support as they wrestle with the crises that have led to their poverty and hunger.  As these needs have become more complex, EHP has implemented a case management program, which allows EHP’s staff to assist clients in addressing and prioritizing these problems in-depth, providing both the immediate and the long-term assistance essential for a family’s success.  This is a crucial element in the transition of client families from dependence on assistance to self-reliance.

Furniture, Clothing, and Household Essentials

EHP distributes clothing, furniture, appliances, and household essentials, such as blankets, sheets, and dishes.  Annually, over 4,000 visits are made, and 10,000 clients served, by EHP’s “Clothes Closet.”  All goods are donations from the community.  This program matches the donated resources of the donors to the needs of the clients in an act of kindness and goodwill.  The most common furniture requests are for beds and refrigerators.  EHP also receives and distributes sofas, stoves, baby furniture, tables, and the like.  EHP assists an average of 100 families each month with furniture or large appliances.  At any given time there are 150-200 families on a waiting list for essential goods and basic living needs.

Client Advocacy

Information and referral assistance are provided to clients seeking housing, financial assistance for basic needs (e.g., PG&E), health care, child-care, employment, language skills, and other social services.  EHP works with other agencies in the community to facilitate access to critical resources.

Children’s Resource Center (CRC) Programs

•           Back to School – we help our clients’ children get ready to start the school year in a positive way by providing fully stocked new backpacks, shopping trips for school clothes and uniforms, and a new school shoes program.

•           Holiday Happiness – we help brighten holidays for our clients’ children with a wonderful holiday party, a toy donation program, and a holiday family adoption program that meets many families’ special holiday needs. 

•           Crisis Referrals – children often make our staff aware of crises in their families.  We refer the children to support services for their own needs (e.g. counseling) and we make referrals for adult family members. This is a program we seek to expand, providing a wider range of referral options, transportation for children, and follow up.

•           Child Care Placements – we help our families solve urgent child care needs.

•           Celebrating Success – our staff often learns of an important celebration for a child – graduation, appearance in a school play, etc. - that no adult is able to attend.  Our staff attends the function to cheer the child on, sometimes providing a small check to mark a milestone in the child’s life. This is a program we seek to expand, serving more children and publicizing their accomplishments.  Sadly, we often provide similar support for children attending funerals.

•           Academic Mentoring – we have a small, on-site academic and enrichment program serving 10-20 middle school students.  As the program grows, we plan to serve more children on-site and provide many more referrals for additional tutoring and mentoring, focusing particularly on the children in the middle – children who are neither academic stars nor serious discipline problems, the children who are most often ignored.

•           Health and Enrichment – as part of our intake and case management processes we often become aware of a child’s health needs or interests in enrichment activities (sports, arts, etc.).  We would like to greatly expand our ability to provide referrals, transportation (often a major stumbling block for our clients), sports or arts equipment, and scholarships for fees.

Ecumenical Hunger Program’s Garden

EHP is very fortunate to have a one-acre site! Where we have a small but bountiful year round garden. Our garden provides organic fresh fruits and vegetables to our clients. Items are picked at their freshest to provide additional nutrition to our clients.  EHP’s volunteers work in the garden, weeding, pruning, planting harvesting and mowing the lawn. Our garden boasts delicious vegetables, such as green beans, tomatoes, and pumpkins, succulent fruits such as oranges, lemons, plums and apricots, and beautiful flowers. Our volunteers also work with children teaching them the basics of gardening.

Women’s Support Group

EHP’s Women’s Support Group offers a safe place for women to connect in solidarity with other women. The group promotes understanding, empowerment, friendship, compassion solace and hope. Guest speakers and field trips provide resources for personal improvement and development. At the twice monthly meetings women discuss current issues, share resources to improve their health - both mentally and spiritually and improve their parenting skills.

Technology Access Center

EHP’s TAP center provides 10 computers for use by the local community. The TAP center provides local residents access to the internet for completing job applications, homework, and other computer related activities. Each person is given a password and login to have access to the system. EHP also offers technical assistance for those unfamiliar with computers.

Program Statistics

July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011

Number of households served food boxes - 5,234

Individuals served food boxes - 23,328

Individuals served supplemental food boxes - 2,336

Number of walk-in clothes closet visits - 4,429

Number of individuals served through clothes closet - 13,760

Number of furniture items distributed - 3,193

Visits to the TAP center - 686

Volunteer hours - 14,869

Total client referrals given - 257

Total hot meals served - 4,303

Total individuals served through Produce Distribution - 5,395

Dollar value of in-kind donations received - $1,223,361