Latest / Hart & Hustle Podcast / Understanding the Real Causes of Poverty
Transcript
- Efrain: Welcome back to the Heart and Hustle Podcast. We have another guest, another amazing individual doing some amazing work all the way on the west side of the United States, Miss Sujata. How you doing today, ma'am? Sujatha Venkatraman: doing good. Efrain: Are you excited for this conversation that we're about to have today? Sujatha Venkatraman: Yes, I'm very excited to be talking to you. Efrain: Yes, I'm super excited to be talking to you as well and figuring out some of the amazing things that you're doing. So let's start off there. What is your your role and what is the organization that you're representing today? Sujatha Venkatraman: My name is like Sujata Wenkatram and I'm the executive director of West Valley Community Services. And we are a nonprofit, a homegrown nonprofit on the Santa Clara County side, which is north of California. And we were born in a very affluent community, Cupertino fifty three years ago. started by three public nurses who saw food insecurity and started a food pantry in their garage and that moved on to becoming an organization. Fifty-three years later we are serving five cities in the west side of Santa Clara County. we have two operations our food operations and our mobile operation that serves low-income communities. and we do other basic needs services. you can think of us as a community responder, the first community responder providing any kind of resource for someone who's in the community who needs the help, whether it could be food, they may be short on rent, they may be having questions about how they're gonna pay their bills, it could be they need a bus pass, homeless supportive services. So Anything a community member would want, we are the one stop shop. From there we either provide the service or we make sure that we connect them to someone who's providing that service. And we've been doing that for fifty three years. Efrain: Yeah, and amazing to think it all started out of a garage. I love as a good story that it starts out of a garage, out of a home, out of a bedroom, and then grows to be something as impactful as what you guys are clearly doing today. to be able to serve the community, to meet people out where they're at. and and it's not every time that you get a leader that finds themselves in an organization like this, right? A lot of the times we go You see a good leader go to, I don't know, a Fortune five hundred company, wanna be a big, boss in a big corporation. And I can imagine that if you wanted to, you could have gone down that lane. But you're in this space of truly OSA, passion and purpose. What brings you to an organization like this? Sujatha Venkatraman: started off as a social worker so I studied social work that was my passion. I had interest in learning about community. I had interest in trying to figure out how do we solve poverty, how do we solve very basic issues surrounding us. And this started back in India when I was studying there thinking about what my career should be. And then I saw a friend of ours, her his her daughter went through a master's in social work. So I decided that this seems like something which will give solutions because I was in born and brought up in New Delhi, you know, cosmopolitan, but saw an and comfortable family life, but saw around me poverty all the time. And just felt like everybody were just moving through with life and nobody wants to do anything about it and that bothered me and I said, let me go on the other side and see how is there ways we can support, if not solve it, at least be part of a solution. and so did a lot of community work in India, worked in rural India, setting up schools, you know, helping build the community to run these schools. and then got burnt out as well. That that young energy saying that we can generate solution faster burnt me out very quickly. I had to take a break to regroup to figure out again this passion, does it still exist? and so I took a time to come to United States to study. to study something called humanistic psychology. It's a very unique program, few colleges offer, but that's like understanding human behavior but also how community behavior all integrates to global responses and behavior. So that was a very interesting curriculum, but I had made up my mind that after I come here I would go back because I thought y United States doesn't have the same problem that I've seen in India. There's there's no poverty, they're you know, they're good, they're doing really well. and I would just study and then go back and then got introduced to some programs where I was studying in Georgia and really saw poverty in a different lens. And that made me to understand that poverty is such a global issue and it's not about whether we are in India or United States or any other country. this happens to society where some people are just barely managing and some are very comfortable. So s Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: so that changed my perspective, started doing this work in Georgia, moved around to different parts of the country, did different kind of work. But that kept my passion going because I still feel we have the power to generate solution and try to figure out and not become the problem ourselves. Efrain: earlier today I actually heard another leader talk about homelessness and and mentioned how people automatically think that this was their choice, right? That the individual got themselves here, so there's not much that we can do. But I I think I told you that I have my biological mother that is homeless. And I do have siblings that would say that to me. Well, she had her choice. You know, she she could have done better or whatever. And to me, because I understand life a little bit differently, it's like But did she have the resources? Was she Sujatha Venkatraman: Well Efrain: given the opportunities needed at an early age to even understand what's really out there? The need, the resources, the people that pour into her. and even when I asked my mom that my my mom that raised me, that adopted me, I asked her, Who was she before, you know, she became this person? And that's just kind of the person she already was because she was living in the cycle, right? So it was hard to kind of get out of that cycle. What is your thoughts on that? you're working with so many people that either that's what their life may have looked like, but they just never had individuals to really guide them. Or some people, life truly happens and they end up that you know, end up in these s scenarios one day to another. What does that all look like? Are are people should be thinking differently? Like I can imagine that you want to kind of debunk some things here. Sujatha Venkatraman: Yeah, Efrain and you're right about that, that nobody chooses to be homeless and nobody wants to be homeless. If they had you know, the means or if you know, the right mentorship or life skill or pathways, they want it out. and so you're right, starting from there, like nobody chooses that they they want to be in this place where they have to sleep outside. They don't know where their next meal is going to come. But then life happens. And just giving the perspective of the clients we serve, we we serve clients who from all walks of life. So they could be seniors who are on fixed income, to people who have two jobs but they still cannot survive the Bay Area, you know, housing, the rent, the cost of living, the the cost of increase in food, transportation, childcare. San Jose was just rated as the most expensive place when it comes to housing, especially rental. So all we see clients of all walks of life. And I feel it it is for us this this situation is very true. We are like one or two steps away from a crisis in life. Like it could be you could lose a job, you could be diagnosed with an illness, or you could just meet with a an accident which may seem minor, but then it results in pain where you have to take e time off from work and that can result in a financial crisis and then you spiral you know downwards because you don't have the support. And what I feel like organizations like us or this person you were talking about you are have the means and the responsibility to uplift them whether it is that giving them the assurety that don't worry you you have food right that's very basic that's very Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: very basic you don't have to worry about where your next meal is come just come to an organization like us you know actually we can help support you to find the next pathway whether it's job or a shelter or any form of housing so I I feel that that's what they are looking for and if we leave them to they will be they let them figure it out, it's not possible. When you're Efrain: Mm-hmm. Sujatha Venkatraman: when you're hungry, it's been proven and you will see Maslow's hierarchy right on my when you you see the the the pyramid, it's like when you're hungry, when your basic needs are not met, none of the other psychological needs get met. Even your safety, your security. You're always in a crisis mode and you you're not thinking correctly. Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: So logic goes out s out of the door. So when people ask this question like why can't they do this? And why are they not applying and why aren't they not going, it is very hard when your basic needs are not met. Efrain: And that's something that I remember, and you probably remember early in school. It's like before big tests, make sure you get a good meal, right? Because Sujatha Venkatraman: Mm-hmm. Efrain: how do you do well if you are hungry, if you did not get the care that you needed the night before? Now you gotta produce the next morning. And it is very hard. I would say life be life in, even for people like me and you, while we're sitting here as leaders to organizations or leaders to our own businesses. I mean, there's still struggles that we even encounter. And sometimes have to rely on others. And if someone doesn't have that, how do they continue to produce? It's one of the hardest things ever when you feel defeated and feel like you have Sujatha Venkatraman: Yes. Efrain: access to nothing. And you know, your mindset to be not everyone is able to shift that mindset because they don't even know that it's possible to tap into that mindset. what are some programs that you guys have to really get people geared up for that transition of homelessness to really seeing something with their lives? Sujatha Venkatraman: So we do both population, housed and the unhoused. so like I started off is just making sure that the basic needs are met, which is food, and then and do that with dignity. So our food operations is like a grocery store. They can shop for the food they want. because we really believe and that's how our founders started the the the the mission and build the the vision around it is is dignity. So uniting the community to fight hunger and homelessness and we do that with compassion and dignity. so even our mobile operation, they pick the food that they want. So very basic. Do the other thing that is very critical is sometimes we miss that that when we provide resources, we think, okay, we can just send them somewhere else. That's time, energy, and you need access to transportation to get there. So the other thing that's very unique about West Valley community services is we bring those services to them. We value that when they come to us, we have to value that time because that's time away from their job, maybe time away from, you know, if they're taking care of someone. So just like we understand the value of time, it's it's important that when someone is coming to us for services, we value that. So we have built a a service you know approach. where we bring services to them. So for the unhoused, we provide laundry, laundry quarters, so making sure that they have clean clothes. Wherever they go, they have they're going with dignity, because that's so important. Many a time unhoused community members they don't approach other organizations because they feel like they're they know that people will judge them because Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: they've been out in the community. Probably they didn't have access to showers. or you know, they were sleeping and so the smell becomes part of for for others, you know, so they're very they're very conscious about that. And so laundry we do, we provide them with bus passes so that if if they have to access other services that we don't have, it's easy for them and we have not making it difficult to say, Okay, you have to go, you know, to this place to get it, but how are they gonna go? if they don't have the means Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: to go. and then we we try to make sure that they are in every housing wait list because these wait lists are long. So the way we motivate them is if you are in a wait list, you have your chances are more. If you don't put yourself on a wait list, you have zero chance of getting housing. So that's kind of a motivation we offer. But any other things, like sometime it's around the holidays, it's it's like The shoes, ponchos. So we provide a lot of wraparound services. And if they are motivated, like like I've said, like what we have seen, and that when we provide the basic needs, we keep that going, they are motivated to make some life changes. Sometimes it's small steps. It could be, yes, I'm gonna put my name on this wait list. I have hope in the system. because when they come to us, especially if they are chronically homeless and have been on the streets. They have lost faith in the system. They Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: they they feel like every organization, every person, every case manager has failed them. So we have to change that mindset back to, no, there is hope, let's do one step at a time. and we really believe that after we provide food, if there is some form of shelter, you know, if whether it is even temporary, whether it is supporting them even in their car. So we call it our safe park program. W builds a kind of a motivation to say, okay, what's the next step? Can I find a job? Now I have shower taken care of, food taken care of. I could go to a job, right? Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: And I can make that happen. So I think that is what we've built to make sure that self-sufficiency is achieved. but before that every other needs are taken care of. Efrain: I love it. when you talk about examples of meeting people at Whether Ad, everything you just mentioned, right? Going to someone's job, being whether it's if they're in their car, how do we help them through that situation? If it's a shower, how do we help them through that situation? If it's food, really meeting people or the bus passes to get to, from your organization to the resource organization. I think it is so crucial that we meet people at Whether Ad, especially nowadays where It it is not easy, right? There's truly this panic that's going on because of what's happening with just fundings and organizations and resources being taken away or whatever that may look like that you guys find yourselves in a place where it's like, Hey, we didn't forget about you. We are still here. We'll still continue to move the needle. And I think it's also interesting that you talked about how two women started this out of the garage with food. How big, fifty three years later, how big is the organization today for those that may be watching or listening? Sujatha Venkatraman: Yeah, we they they started off with twenty-three people accessing to now almost six thousand folks receiving our services. We have bought gr grown beyond food. Like I said, we have an on-site market, we have a mobile market that goes into all our schools that are in need, community colleges, senior affordable housing, again, breaking the barriers here with access to food immediately, right outside their doorstep or while they're picking up their kids, to Efrain: Mm-hmm. Sujatha Venkatraman: providing rental assistance and making sure not just that we are providing this one time, but really preventing homelessness because that's Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: what is critical. And then also building on that, making sure that we are doing advocacy around policy. And that's how we've grown in this 53 years, not just being on the side of being a service provider, which we always will be, but also on the side of advocacy and making sure that policies are not preventing people. know, and that that people are housed, we can have affordable housing. And we really believe that we have to build an inclusive community. And that's what we have done. The idea is not that okay, you can't afford to live in a city like Which is Apple's headquarters, our solution is okay, let's move you out. But it is like to build a community that says, No, how will we have you in this community? Because you're a critical part of it. Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: maybe they were families who grew their children grew up here, right? They went through the school systems and and they're so they are seniors or they are service sector workers who are offering their skill set to like a restaurant or They're a driver, picking up your kids. So it's important that the the narrative should be how do we build these inclusive communities? And that's what we have done in this 53 years as making sure that our communities are inclusive, people of different walks of life can live. and then we as a service provider are supporting and making sure that that's continuing in our communities. Efrain: Amazing. Amazing. And and how many people are part of this team? Sujatha Venkatraman: We are thirty eight people strong. Efrain: Love it. Plus all the volunteers that come and help. Sujatha Venkatraman: And all thank you. Yeah, and all the volunteers. We have about nine hundred unique volunteers in a year who support the program and that's how we are able to offset the cost. So the volunteers bring in food, they sort the food, they help run our market. they are also helping us at front desk, making sure that when we have these services, they are they they are able to offer that to our community. you know, they they they They do basic from making appointments, helping someone fill the form, to also sorting fruits and vegetables that we get. Efrain: Yeah. we were actually talking about the last time is the fruits and vegetables that are sitting in people's backyards that people don't even realize that it's actually useful for the needs, right? For those that may not be able to eat, maybe homeless, may not whatever that may look like, we have fruits and vegetables in our own backyards that we let Sujatha Venkatraman: Mm-hmm. Efrain: go to waste. But there's organizations like yours and others that I'm starting to realize, wait a minute, there's You could actually partner up with these organizations. As you mentioned, volunteers will come out and source these things. shout out to really the volunteers that make this work happen because a very small, mighty team, but these volunteers make us seem so much bigger than we actually are, because they show up, they become advocates, as you mentioned. They're playing behind the scenes a lot more than people actually realize. So I'm I'm glad to hear that number of volunteers is. It's big because when people think of how they can give back, it is those ways of just sometimes your time, right? It Sujatha Venkatraman: Choo. Choo. Efrain: it is the value that you may bring to someone of telling your story. We talk about how important stories are because that that individual that's a volunteer today could have probably been homeless at some point in their lives, right? And I can imagine you hear those Sujatha Venkatraman: Absolutely. Efrain: stories. Sujatha Venkatraman: Absolutely. And going back to food rescue, you know, that's another thing that the program it's not just about giving the food, but it's also rescuing because there is so much food wastage in our country. Efrain: Mm-hmm. Sujatha Venkatraman: And fifty three percent of the food we rescue and only by like three percent. So the second harvest food bank supports with the rest. The others are drives and donations that individual or groups are part of. So you're absolutely right. We are also about that, that there's a part of the environmental consciousness in the in the work that not just my organization but food pantries are doing across the country is making sure food is not going waste because 6,000 people just in West Valley Community Services need the food and there is a way to rescue that. This is from grocery store, this is from people's backyard and from their trees, or even Efrain: Mm-hmm. Sujatha Venkatraman: people just donating. many a times people will go to the store and say, Hey, I bought like two cans of milk and like extra. This is Costco size, you know. Let me just give it because an organization may need it. Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: you know, because I have the means to do that. The same thing happens and you said something I think is very important to understand that there are small things we can do. sometime I get people to say, I don't know like how I can contribute. and you Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: know, I'm I'm I'm getting like I'm doing my job and I'm getting bored. There are very simple ways to do that. One is just volunteer with with a food program. You can sort food, you can bring in food, or just donate your backyard your f your fruit tree. Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: you can pluck it yourself or you can find an organization that can help do that for you. So it's sometime not Efrain: That's so amazing. Sujatha Venkatraman: about writing checks is always good, like, you know, if you have the means. But there are other ways that people can give back to their community and feel fulfilled is by just donating their time. Efrain: Yeah. Be a bridge connector. one of the biggest things I think about me r leading a nonprofit is there's so many bridges that we don't know about. And there's people that can connect us to some of these organizations. So maybe that's you. Maybe you're the person that just knows somebody that knows somebody. Let us know. We'll continue that conversation and curate that relationship. But relationships matter, communications matter. And I think that's what's really excelled you guys is right is the communication and people knowing that you guys exist, whether it's word of mouth, whether it's email marketing, whether it's you know, referral. In a day and age now, in twenty twenty six, when we talk about technology, AI, communications, how do you guys leverage all that to continue to spread the word and and push the mission forward? Sujatha Venkatraman: we are just starting off leveraging it but definitely using AI to understand how different audience look at messaging. you know, s learnt it the hard way, like the younger generation love like podcasts or something really quick, like reels and messaging Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: needs to be crisp, it needs to be captivating. It can't be like a blog. post I'm writing or a newsletter that doesn't appeal. So AI is really helping us to understand how to appeal to the different audience, how to engage them, you know, how our even our posters, our marketing material needs to be engaging. but Efrain: Mm. Sujatha Venkatraman: also understand data, like you know, how we're using that for data analysis quite a bit. like for example looking at even like on our weekly How is our food moving? How is our clientele? so that AI has been super helpful to help us understand okay, how do we market? like for example, we are open on Thursdays. This is another thing that we were very mindful of. Everything closes, like everything has this nine to five or eight to five kind of as a service sector organization, I felt like what happens after that when I'm done with my job, I pick up my kids. Efrain: Good question. Sujatha Venkatraman: And I need to access a food pantry, I have no option. So we decided to open on Thursdays late, from like eight to eight, so that working families have access to our services. so one of the things AI is helping is like, okay, how do we market that better? Like, what are some of the language we need to use? So we are Efrain: Mm-hmm. Sujatha Venkatraman: getting there slowly, but embracing that aspect of newness. Efrain: Yeah, that is really good. Sujatha Venkatraman: It's Efrain: Yeah, no, that's really good. I would say we're in a time where you have to we talked about pivoting, right? Is how do you pivot with the times? How do we there are so many ways to get in front of people nowadays? It now is no longer just an email or phone call or just a TV ad on the TV because how many of us are really watching TV? you know, I have my favorite shows I watch every week and it's probably like one or two on the TV. And other than that, I'm probably consuming a lot of content various ways. So yes, how do we get in front of people's eyes and tell the story and the missions? And you're dead on. I I love that you're already thinking in that space is how do we meet people out where they're at and continue to scale? it is it is tremendous. I I just love how calm you are. I love your energy. I love that, you know, this you can tell you are a leader that cares, a leader that doesn't so much take yourself seriously, but take the mission very even more serious. Right, because it's not about us. We're sitting in seats where we're grateful and we're honored to be in these seats and realizing we're just doing God's work, that we're really fertilizing the future. Because that homeless individual today could be someone's mom months from now, could be someone's father, maybe is someone's mom and someone's father. and I I remember a story that I spoke to another great leader that he told me at forty-one years old, his life changed forever. Meaning at 41, this is a gentleman that was homeless, that was incarcerated, that was a drug addict on heroin and cocaine, and went to jail for his last time at 41 years old because he felt that somebody seen him not for the first time. sorry, not for the second time, but for the first time at 41 years old, and allowed him to see that there was so much more to fight for. And today he's a vice president of an organization. Like those are the stories that happen when someone sees somebody else. And someone seen you and that's why you're the where you're at today and someone seen me and poured it into me and that's where I'm at why I am at today. So that you get to do this for work. Does it ever even feel like work to you? Sujatha Venkatraman: It does, it does. but those are fewer days than where I feel more more fulfilled than I'm leaving work. Efrain: Love it. Okay. Sujatha Venkatraman: happens you know with you know sometime policy changes and the narratives Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: that we hear sometimes this work just seems like there is no solution to the end because another person became homeless. but also in all of it I I I really have been able to keep this energy going is because I love the our mission. I love the work that we are doing and I feel that feeds me too. this one person we have touched. So I had to I I'm I had to learn to to figure that out that I'm not fighting the battle for everybody. So I'm fighting it for this one person. I have to scale down. Otherwise Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: I think burnout happens when you feel like I'm gonna change this whole community. And you know I also refrain from saying that I'm we are going to end hunger and homelessness. Efrain: Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: I think we have to be very realistic. We can prevent it, but ending is a big task. Efrain: Yeah, we're gonna need a lot we're gonna need the organizations to really team up together to make that happen. Sujatha Venkatraman: Yes. Efrain: as an accountability partner, as we start to wrap things up, I would love to know what is in the horizon for you guys? What is that thing that you would love to see move forward? maybe something new that you guys want to implement. So the next time I talk to you, I'm gonna bring it up. I to be the accountability partner. What is it? And we don't know who's listening. Somebody could help us. Sujatha Venkatraman: Yeah. So one thing is definitely build out our food operation. So, we we build out giving out food, but this rescue part requires its own big thing. Like we have to have vehicles to bring in food. so in that space we are looking at being more climate action oriented, like Efrain: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah. Sujatha Venkatraman: maybe electric vehicles and making sure how we resource food faster, storage of food. So food wastage is what we are looking at from that angle because we know that we have more clients to feed. So we are we are working in that space. So whether it's building walk-ins or looking at electrification of our vehicle, that's a project that we're really investing in. So not just giving food and focusing on how much poundage, but also like sourcing food. How do we source it from farmers? How do we making sure that that that we don't have to buy food if there is a mean to rescue it? So that's one. the other interesting project that we are working on is for the unhoused community because they still have to come to a location or there are no shelters in the West Valley region of where we are. These are very affluent communities. Los Gatos, you know, Campbell, Saratoga. These are very affluent communities and they're not built in infrastructure for them. So another project that I'm working on, I'm calling it the navigation band for the unhoused, where it will be a trailer with showers, with with laundry, with restrooms, case management and food. Now we can take this trailer as a mobile case management or an office to different locations so we can meet the Efrain: Love that. Sujatha Venkatraman: unhoused where they are. So we are not forcing them to come into our offices and and making it even harder for them. So that's our new project called our navigation Efrain: Okay. Sujatha Venkatraman: man. So I'm excited. I'll share more with you, Ephraim, once the project is Efrain: Yes. Sujatha Venkatraman: is coming alive. I'm excited about that. Efrain: And where can people continue to follow this this journey? what's the social? Are you on LinkedIn? What's the website? Sujatha Venkatraman: We are the website is www.wcommunity services.org. we are all on our social media handles, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. So follow us, West Valley Community Services. We also do blog posts on our website, so you will get to know new things we are doing, and and also sharing our knowledge on advocacy where policy needs to change and also certain tangible things that you that people in the community can do, like volunteering, what are the different ways to volunteer. So our website is pretty active. It has links for getting involved. There are very many ways to do that. Efrain: So Jata, thank you so much today for just always educating us. I think sometimes we don't know what we don't know. When we have these conversations, we can understand what's happening in our own country. You mentioned it where sometimes we have this belief that it's not happening here, but it truly is. I think we all see it, whatever I'm in Orlando and I see it. You obviously on the West Coast and see it. And there's so many other places while you mentioned we won't end it maybe by the time that me and you have to say goodbye, but we could definitely make a dent in it by just having these conversations and and making strides and just allowing people to understand that it's happening in their own backyards, but how to find the resources and how are organizations like yours truly helping others as you mentioned avoid it. So thank you so much to Jata for the time. If you guys are still watching, make sure you guys do like, subscribe, and comment. And also go check out the website so you can see how you can be a part of it as well. Later. You welcome. Thank you, you two. Sujatha Venkatraman: Thank you, Afraid. This was lovely talking to you. Have a good day. Bye bye.