I had a very good childhood. I grew up in East Palo Alto, but the good thing was that we had friends in Palo Alto. My mother worked at Stanford University, so we were able to venture out a lot. We had opportunities to do stuff at Stanford and, through our friends, we would be able to go over to places like Rinconada Park. A lot of people don’t realize this but back in the day, if you were Black, you couldn’t go to Rinconada Park — you had to be with someone who lived in Palo Alto. My mother having friends who were residents here actually gave us an advantage to have better opportunities.
There is a contrast between Palo Alto and East Palo Alto; the “haves” and the “have nots.” But I would consider myself having a very good childhood in the sense that I grew up in a culturally enriched community. Nairobi — which is what some people call East Palo Alto — was close to a wealthy city, which afforded us opportunities to see how the others lived. From that, I’ve grown up to be a worldly person.
It was the housing that brought me to Palo Alto. When I became homeless, I put my name down on the housing lists, and I moved into Alta Housing just before I got in a bus accident, which put me out of work.
More recently, I have been focusing on a project for my nonprofit. The project is called the “Fresh Fish Crew,” and the goal is to raise enough money to take 25 homeless people out on a boat for a day. We would catch fish and bring them back for a community fish fry, where we would talk to the participants about how they could improve their lives. I want to listen to people’s stories and let them know that there are opportunities out there.
I started receiving food from La Comida through Raul, who organizes the meal programs where I live. I get La Comida meals delivered to me three days a week during the pandemic, which helps me out. I’m retired and disabled, so I’m not working. La Comida is a great service that helps low income seniors like me.
The meals from La Comida are convenient, nutritious, delicious and fresh. The menu is varied so it isn’t always the same meals, and there are options to accommodate different diets. La Comida provides a good assortment of meat, vegetables, fruit and whole grains: all the vital food sources.
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, the meal program is especially helpful because it cuts down on my interaction with the outside community. Living in a senior low-income housing complex where we have a lot of vulnerable people, minimizing our contact with people is a priority. The fact that we have the same delivery people and that they always wear personal protective equipment makes us feel safe.
Like La Comida, I choose to dedicate my time to my own nonprofit because it is a way I can enrich the world and share the wealth. I’m just a regular guy trying to use my time to help other people. I appreciate the services that La Comida has and I try to give back as well.