By Elizabeth Gomez
Twenty-five years ago, I headed back to the work force after having a baby. I saw a job for a receptionist at Alameda County Community Food Bank and mailed in my resume on special resume paper.
When I interviewed, I thought, “WOW!” — I had no idea these resources existed. I grew up in an immigrant family with a single mom. We were food insecure and I wish we knew about food banks back then. Because there was a language barrier, my mom couldn’t connect to resources. When I think about the people we serve, I see myself.
Flash forward 25 years: I’m now in the newly created role of Chief Impact Officer. It’s not a job, it’s a passion. It’s my mission to ensure that everyone in Alameda County struggling with food insecurity has access to the resources that I didn’t have growing up.
During my tenure, I’ve gone from receptionist to Helpline coordinator, to convincing our former executive director we needed to help clients apply for CalFresh. Since then, our client services department has grown to 16 passionate employees who connect the community to our food pantries and CalFresh. Today, we are the largest outreach program in the state and have become a model for food banks nationwide. In the last year alone, our outreach has led to over $27 million that our neighbors spend at local stores and farmers markets. Our work creates a ripple effect that benefits the entire community.
We have done this by overcoming tremendous political obstacles — including politicians who have tried to criminalize hunger, which disproportionately impacts people of color. It used to be that to apply for CalFresh, you needed to be fingerprinted. You couldn’t own a car worth more than $4,650 or have a savings account.
But we innovated to connect with people in need. We successfully advocated to overturn many unjust laws. And we did so, in a way — as we still do — that centers our community in every decision.
As ACCFB’s first ever Chief Impact Officer I’m looking forward to further centering Community into our work — and building a collaborate effort between our client services, operations, and programs teams to ensure everyone in our community has the resources they need.
“It’s not a job, it’s a passion. It’s my mission to ensure that everyone struggling with food insecurity has access to the resources that I didn’t have growing up.”
Spending more than two decades working with our clients, I know people are reluctant to reach out — or don’t participate at all — because of fear, lack of awareness, or because enrolling in CalFresh can feel so daunting. My commitment is to break those barriers and create access with care and intention.
By 2030, I want to live in a world where food banks are no longer needed and we will be out of a job. That’s our north star and we’re honored you’ve joined us.
