Cupertino Mayor Darcy Paul, second from left, presents a proclamation to Josh Selo, left, on the grand opening final Might of the market at West Valley Group Providers whereas metropolis councilmembers Jon Wiley and Kitty Moore look on. Of the 1,207 new shoppers at West Valley Group Providers in fiscal yr 2020-21, 29% had been from Cupertino. (Picture by Anne Gelhaus)
Of the 1,207 new shoppers at West Valley Group Providers in fiscal yr 2020-21, 29% had been from Cupertino.
In line with the WVCS annual report, that represents a rise in complete shoppers from Cupertino from 251 in 2019-20 to 320 in 2020-21. In complete, the variety of new shoppers utilizing its rental and meals help packages rose from 989 in 2019-20.
Primarily based in Cupertino, the nonprofit additionally serves residents residing beneath the property line in Los Gatos and West San Jose. WVCS served a complete of three,168 shoppers in 2020-21.
Cupertino-based shoppers had been 59% single adults, 23% households with kids and 18% households with adults solely. Of the households receiving monetary help, 35 had been in Cupertino.
“Whereas demand has remained regular and our numbers this yr are greater than they had been within the yr that was pre-COVID, our rental help numbers and our meals distribution numbers are among the many highest in our historical past,” WVCS Govt Director Josh Selo stated, including that the nonprofit noticed a rise of two,000 shoppers throughout the area in 2019-20 on the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WVCS’s shopper base additionally elevated within the different communities it serves–by 23% in Los Gatos, 6% in Saratoga and 42% in West San Jose.
“Usually, our shopper base is pushed most particularly by the quantity of inexpensive housing in a neighborhood,” Selo stated. “If a neighborhood has extra inexpensive housing, there are extra individuals eligible for companies. It’s additionally pushed by the variety of unhoused of us in our neighborhood.”
Whereas the pandemic pressured the nonprofit to adapt to unprecedented modifications, Selo stated it additionally elevated WVCS’s accessibility. Now, as a substitute of creating a visit to the Cupertino workplace, shoppers can arrange digital conferences with case managers. The WVCS Park-It Market, which serves as a “shoppable” meals pantry for free of charge to shoppers, stops at De Anza Faculty in Cupertino on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month.
“That’s a software in our toolkit that can proceed, whilst COVID recedes into the background,” Selo stated. “We really feel we must be as client-centric as we will. There are already so many hindrances going through our shoppers; we need to make issues simpler for them access-wise.”
Selo stated many WVCS shoppers are referred by county or metropolis businesses, and the nonprofit additionally does outreach at laundromats, espresso outlets and homeless encampments.
“I'd say a part of the explanation that we had been so profitable in assembly this elevated demand throughout COVID was as a result of we’d labored for a few years on these shut relationships between all of those completely different companions to be right here for the neighborhood,” Selo stated.
WVCS’s revenues for the fiscal yr had been a bit of greater than $8.7 million; bills had been virtually $5.8 million.
Anne Gelhaus contributed to this report.