2020 will be remembered for the deadly Covid – 19 disease. The worldwide pandemic and public health crisis are an occurrence which comes along once every hundred years. Beyond the obvious health crisis, an economic crisis ravaged as well. With businesses closing, jobs were lost. Requests for food assistance from providers like Food Now soared. For the year ending December 31, 2020, 4,774 unduplicated individuals visited Food Now at least once in search of hunger relief, including 1,176 children and 1,013 seniors. This number represents a staggering 16.7% of the 28,585 residents of Desert Hot Springs.
Food Now desires to strengthen families and build healthier communities by providing the following services for our clients.
Food Now provides healthy and nutritious food choices for in-need residents of Desert Hot Springs who would otherwise have to go hungry.
Scroll down to see schedule and registration.
Food Now provides home deliveries of weekly supplemental food for disabled veterans and others who are housebound due to a medical necessity.
The Food Now Children’s Backpack Feeding Program is a cooperative between FSOD and the Palm Springs Unified School District and provides selected chronically hungry children with additional nutritional support on weekends.
Food Now provides homeless clients with a daily distribution of special ready to eat food packages which require no heating or refrigeration. Personal hygiene items are distributed monthly.
Screenings will identify existing or pre-existing diseases and health risks, specifically obesity and diabetes. At risk clients are offered counseling on the importance of healthy life choices including diet and reap the benefits of early health risk detection.
Food Now follows all the USDA nutrition recomendations for a heathy diet. Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including our stage of life, situations, preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions we make over time.
A community benefits coordinator is available to assist clients and help them to understand and enroll in benefits available including Edison’s CARE Program, WIC, SNAP, Affordable Health Care and Cover California. Presentations are available in English and Spanish.
Senior clients receiving food assistance from Food Now are typically on a fixed income and live in poverty. Their limited budget makes it difficult to secure adequate food and other living essentials as well. Food Now’s senior clients were surveyed to identify which non-food items the clients felt were vital but difficult to obtain. These items (toilet paper, shampoo, deodorant and soap) are distributed bi-monthly.
In a typical month we distribute: 7,000 lbs of fresh fruit including apples, bananas and more. And fresh vegetables including: avocados, artichokes, bell pepper, cabbage, potatoes, just to name a few. We distribute over 2,200 lbs of grains including: store breads, Kelloggs’ cereals, Post’ cereals and long grain rice. Also include are proteins like chicken quarters and pinto beans, also dairy with 1 percent milk.
Food distribution takes place at our facility at:
14080 Palm Drive, Suite D427, Desert Hot Springs CA 92240
We are currently providing drive through food distributions weekly on Wednesday and Thursday from 8 am till 10:30 am
We actually surveyed our clients and found that the same percentage of clients are pet owners as are in the rest of the population. Because pets serve a purpose. They bring companionship, and that may be the only companionship they have. So we provide pet food as part of our Food Now program. So for us to be able to offer assistance through pet food is a wonderful service that we can give.
You must apply in person at our facility
14080 Palm Dr., Suite D427, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240
New clients must bring proof of residency and complete a registration form. Registration can be completed during normal food distribution/pick-up.
Please bring with you
1) Proof of residency
2) Proof of income (if any)
3) Proof of the number of dependents in the home