JFS SOVA Receives $5.7 Million State Grant

Jewish Family Service LA’s SOVA Community Food & Resource Program (JFS SOVA) was awarded a $5.7 million grant from California’s 2021 budget allocation to purchase and expand the property in Van Nuys that it has been renting since 2005. 

California Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-Van Nuys) and State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) announced the grant at a news conference at the Van Nuys JFS SOVA location on Oct. 7.

‘This $5.7 million dollar investment is critical to allow JFS SOVA to continue providing life-saving groceries and support to the ever-growing number of individuals and families struggling to meet their most basic needs.’ – Adrin Nazarian

In a written statement, Nazarian said, “This $5.7 million dollar investment is critical to allow JFS SOVA to continue providing life-saving groceries and support to the ever-growing number of individuals and families struggling to meet their most basic needs.” 

Added Hertzberg: “This funding is essential to feeding countless families here in the Valley. Our Valley neighborhoods have relied on Jewish Family Service LA for decades and the state’s investment recognizes the unique role it plays in the health and stability of our community, especially as we continue to face the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.” 

JFS said its Van Nuys location is the program’s central hub and that it will use this allocation to, “Purchase the property and fully rehab the existing warehouse and pantry site to add additional refrigeration/freezer capacity. With the ability to incorporate the empty storefronts into program delivery and upgrade those spaces, [we] will be able to enhance and expand the services available on-site to individuals and families that need them.” 

“For more than 40 years, the JFS SOVA has been a lifeline for those facing hunger in Los Angeles,” Eli Veitzer, JFS president & CEO, and Nina Tassler, board chair,  said in a joint statement. “This remarkable investment will benefit individuals and families throughout the San Fernando Valley for generations to come.”

The JFS SOVA Van Nuys program houses a five-day per week food pantry distribution center, counseling and case management offices, drop-in space for partner organizations, warehouse space and program administration. JFS said that throughout the pandemic, it expanded its services to provide food to more than 5,700 people and deliver groceries to over 1,300 homebound older adults and people with different abilities each month.