Alameda County is home to a disproportionate number of low-income households in the Bay Area. Nearly 10% of county residents live below the poverty line. About 15% of Alameda County families with children under 18 years old live below the poverty level according to Census data.

More than 325,000 individuals in the county are vulnerable to hunger, frequently skipping meals or eating too little. Chronic poverty increases health disparities, with a recent Alameda County Public Health Department study documenting widening health gaps by neighborhood, income and ethnicity. As poverty goes up, life expectancy goes down.

The downtown Oakland neighborhood that houses the SVdP Community Center and Free Dining Room is one of the most distressed in Northern California. Nearly a third of area residents subsist on incomes below the poverty threshold. Nearly half of single-mother households in the area live below the poverty line. Those who eat at the SVdP Dining Room have an average income of little more than $5,000 per year.

SVdP serves those who live in poverty, those who are struggling to make ends meet. They may lack in education, they may struggle with literacy. They may have physical and mental disabilities, they may have prison records. The common thread, though, is they are all human beings.

SVdP provides tangible assistance to homeless and at-risk persons to help them meet basic needs, build self-sufficiency, and ultimately break the cycle of poverty.