Preventing homelessness and hunger in Sunnyvale

Things were looking up for Benjamin Johnson. After a few years living out of his car in Fremont, he’d landed an apartment in Sunnyvale and a steady job as a cook at a bar and grill in town.

He was even in line for a raise, set to take home $2,500 a month.

Then suddenly in January, the main artery to his heart tore open, sending him to intensive care and stripping him of the use of his legs.

“I’m glad to be here,” Johnson said. “Because everybody said it’s slim to none chances that you’re making it.”

But without being able to work and soon facing eviction, Johnson, 45, was unsure how he would endure the grueling recovery ahead.

In March, one of his former roommates reached out to Sunnyvale Community Services, and a caseworker with the nonprofit quickly got to work helping Johnson sign up for disability benefits and rental assistance. The group also negotiated a deal with Johnson’s landlord to let him stay in the apartment for another six months and avoid falling back into homelessness.

“It was like, oh my goodness, someone’s helping me,” Johnson said, almost disbelieving his good fortune.

Sunnyvale Community Services supports low-income, unhoused and elderly residents across Sunnyvale and the Alviso community in San Jose. It’s one of seven “emergency assistance service” nonprofits with the goal of preventing homelessness and hunger across Santa Clara County.

The organization provides weekly food donations to more than 2,400 people and case management for hundreds of clients. Wish Book donations will help 140 families with rental assistance, food aid and other needed services.

“They don’t have anyone else to turn to,” said Roshuna Creswell, the nonprofit’s program director. “A lot of individuals’ support systems either have moved away or lost contact, so they really rely on the support we’re able to provide. A little kindness and compassion go a long way.”

During an interview at Sunnyvale Community Services’ office this fall, Johnson, who currently uses a wheelchair to get around, recalled how his father and brother passed away during the pandemic. With no family in the area after his health emergency, Johnson’s 23-year-old son Devin moved from Nevada to help care for him.

“I came down with my cousin to visit him in the hospital a week after it happened,” Devin said at the nonprofit’s headquarters. “He had a tube in his throat, and he was just trying to talk,” he remembered, describing how hospital staff strapped a disoriented Johnson to his ICU bed to prevent him from removing the breathing tube.

Before long, Sunnyvale Community Services registered Devin as an in-home caretaker for his father, allowing him to collect a county paycheck. The group was also helping Devin get his driver’s license so he could take Johnson to medical appointments.

If Johnson sticks with his physical therapy plan, he’s hopeful he’ll be able to walk again one day.

“I got to deal with it and push through the pain and get better,” he said.