Q&A with Josh Selo, Executive Director of West Valley Community Services
About WVCS:
West Valley Community Services, Inc. is a non-profit, community-based agency that has been providing direct assistance and referral services to the west valley communities of Santa Clara County for over 45 years. Founded in 1973, West Valley Community Services provides a continuum of basic needs, including an in-house and mobile food pantry, homeless support, affordable housing, emergency financial assistance, family support, referrals, education, and case management. West Valley Community Services serves homeless and low-income individuals and families in the west valley communities of Cupertino, Saratoga, West San Jose, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, and the surrounding mountain regions.
Project Funded by The Health Trust:
The Health Trust awarded a Health Partnership grant to WVCS to strengthen its infrastructure and capacity through the renovation of their food pantry, located in Cupertino. This renovation increased the food security of their clients and streamlined food distribution by increasing the public pantry space and storage capacity while decreasing wait times for families. 
Q1: This grant enabled you to remodel your food pantry and reshape the experience of grocery distribution. Why is this important for the families you serve?
Respect for the dignity and integrity of each of the people who come through our door is a foundational value at West Valley Community Services. We were driven by the vision of creating a space that would destigmatize the experience of visiting a pantry, and instead, make a visit to West Valley Community Services feel like a typical trip to the grocery store. For a family already facing the trauma of food and housing insecurity, an experience that can feel so out of control, we believe there would be great comfort in creating an environment that empowers each client to make one of the most important household decisions for themselves: what do I need to feed and nourish my family? In our newly branded WVCS Market, clients select food and household items directly from the shelves, filling their own basket as opposed to receiving a pre-sorted box of food. This approach supports empowerment and self-determination, and we believe it is the ideal way to provide these services to the community.
Q2: As we enter the “recovery” phase of the pandemic, how will this space support your work, especially for those communities who will continue to be impacted by the long-lasting economic and health effects of COVID?
Demand for food has skyrocketed since the onset of COVID-19, and for the first time in our organization’s history, we saw lines form at our door as people struggled to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head. We expect demand for support to remain high for at least the next 12-18 months as recovery takes longer for folks who were already facing food and housing insecurity when the global pandemic began. Food insecurity is extremely stressful, and persistent, toxic stress can have lasting and deleterious consequences. In our design of the new WVCS Market, we wanted to create a welcoming, warm environment that could help lower the stress caused by food insecurity. Our space is painted in warm colors, and we used wood finishes on the shelves and displays to mimic a Trader Joe’s atmosphere. There is music playing while clients shop, and the shelves are well-stocked with a wide variety of healthy, nourishing foods – including a large fruit and vegetable section. Our display signage is in multiple languages, with heart health placards and recipes to encourage healthy eating. All of these elements were intentional, and taken together, create an environment that is inviting and helps to lower the stress that our food insecure clients so often experience.
Q3: Since starting this project, what are some of the accomplishments you are most proud of?
For me, the most meaningful accomplishment has been the reactions and feedback from the clients. Just a few days ago, a new client came to the WVCS Market for the very first time. She has limited English language proficiency, so the signage in Spanish helped her feel welcome during her visit. As she made her way around to the refrigerated aisle, she began to cry, overwhelmed with emotion at being able to find everything she needed to fill her cart and feed her family. As she finished her shopping trip, the smile of excitement and relief on her face filled my heart – and reminded me again why we worked so hard to make this vision a reality.
Q4: WVCS provides much more than food and groceries to West Valley families. How does your holistic approach support health equity?
WVCS offers a range of services focused on household stability through asset preservation. All of our programs – from the WVCS Market to financial coaching to the holiday programs – help our clients retain household dollars to be used for the critical basic needs, such as rent, childcare, and transportation. Our case managers work closely with clients to assess their areas of crisis, and then serve as a navigator, connecting them with programs both inside WVCS and at partner organizations throughout Santa Clara County to ensure they have access to a range of programs and services that will support household stability. In order to build health equity, however, you need to be accessible to everyone – in both words and actions. At WVCS, we serve a very diverse community, and we strive to reflect that diversity in our staffing, in the languages we use in our signage and on our paperwork, and in our overall approach to creating an environment focused on inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. You can’t have health equity unless you have an environment where all people feel welcome, and we work hard to ensure that West Valley Community Services is that kind of place.
Q5: How can the community support you or learn more about your work?
Our food program is largely run by volunteers, and we are always looking for folks to help picking up food from local grocery stores, sorting food items, and stocking shelves. Volunteers also help at the front desk, and play a vital role in the services we provide to our clients. For more information about volunteering with West Valley Community Services, or details about our programs, please visit www.wvcommunityservices.org.