By Andrea Ramos
San Diego – On Tuesday, May 25th, PATH’s (People Assisting The Homeless) Cooks Mobile Program celebrated its first anniversary and the program’s 25,000th meal delivered to local individuals who are currently facing homelessness in San Diego County.
One of the volunteers preparing the meals on this special day was Mayor Todd Gloria. Mayor Gloria is a strong supporter of PATH’s new program and has spoken of its importance in the community stating, “PATH’s Cooks Mobile Program is in perfect alignment with the City of San Diego’s new, more compassionate approach to homelessness. The 25,000 nutritious meals PATH and its community partners have provided to vulnerable San Diegans is an incredible milestone that is changing and saving lives.”
PATH, founded in 1984, is an organization that combats homelessness in California by building affordable housing and providing supportive services for those in need. Path’s Cooks Mobile Program began in response to COVID-19 to deliver fresh meals to high-risk clients in the San Diego county who are sheltering in motels and scattered site homes, mainly via Project Roomkey, who may not have amenities for preparing meals.
What makes this new program possible is PATH’s partnership with 211/CIE and DoorDash. The partnership is one reason why this program has expanded to delivering food to low-income families, older adults, and those unable to leave their homes due to the pandemic. 211 San Diego had stated, “COVID-19 illuminated the barriers that too many of our community members face every day, like access to food. 211 San Diego’s Community Information Exchange allowed us to leverage the power of people, technology, and partnerships, like our work with PATH, to get food to our neighbors in need and also created a model for collaboration and innovation that we hope will continue as our region recovers from the pandemic and beyond.”
PATH is dedicated to reducing homelessness in California and is now branching out into eliminating food insecurity. For more information about PATH, click here.