SOME PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ST . JOSEPH ' S FAMILY CENTER

“ It was a life changing event ,” Cox said . “ I saw and did things I was never exposed to . I saw for the first time what community really meant .”

This realization set the course for his career choice — working with communities within the non-profit world . In 2001 the executive director position at St . Joseph ’ s Family Center ( SJFC ) opened up after Marge Albaugh , founder of SJFC , retired . Cox interviewed for the position and was hired . Working for an organization that provides thousands of underserved South County residents with the essentials in life was the perfect fit for Cox . It still is .

“ I really , really do love my work but what I really love more is the community ,” Cox said . “ I like being with the people . I like being the ‘ boots on the ground ’. It keeps me aware about the community ’ s needs . My comfort zone is my community .”

This year , as Cox celebrates his 20th anniversary with SJFC , he faces the New Year with hope and optimism . Included among this year ’ s goals is enhancing a deep commitment to gender and racial equity .

“ Those to me are the two big ones ,” Cox said , adding , he wants to ensure that is part of the organization ’ s culture moving forward . “ That is the banner we will stand behind .”

But Cox doesn ’ t stop there . His list continues .

“ I want to keep us viable , I want us to keep being able to be responsive ,” Cox said . “ I want us to continue to try and engage the community , and I want us to focus on bringing back our programs full strength . I think we ’ re

going to continue with our stability and our accessibly and try — to the best of our ability — to continue to meet the needs that we see .”

Prior to the pandemic SJFC ’ s most utilized resource , the Food Pantry , was providing approximately 300 thousand pounds of food a month and serving 100 families per day . From April through June of last year , those numbers more than tripled . “ We were serving 600 plus families a day ,” Cox said .

SJFC faced additional challenges as well . The Lord ’ s Table , a program that provides three hot meals a week to the homeless and unhoused , was curtailed .

“ We and other agencies have had to adapt and pivot and do things differently but we ’ ve also just had to accept we can ’ t do things like we want to ,” Cox said .

“ I want to keep us viable , I want us to keep being able to be responsive . I want us to continue to try and engage the community , and I want us to focus on bringing back our programs full strength .”

The Food Pantry was limited to drive-thru service . Financial assistance and case management were conducted online instead of in person . Cox readily admits this alternative method of serving the community had its flaws . “ Obviously there are a number of families that were falling through the cracks , those that are challenged by language , certainly challenged by technology ,” Cox said . “ I think we ’ ve adapted and assimilated the best we can .”

Last August SJFC was personally

affected by the pandemic when one of its staff members was diagnosed with Covid . Under advisement of the Public Health Department the Pantry immediately went into self-isolation for 14 days . Thanks to the generosity of Catholic Charities and Second Harvest of Silicon Valley , the much needed food distribution continued during the isolation .

“ We did the best we could ,” Cox said , adding , “ We ’ ve been very cautious and very safe .”

While a number of services and programs were halted in 2020 , an additional resource was provided to SJFC — the Cares Act — which allowed the center to institute a homeless prevention grant with the city of Gilroy . “ We ’ ve been administering that for about a month now ,” Cox said . “ But we ’ ve been trying to do most of that online .”

SJFC has also taken part in a three phase plan organized by Destination Home , which serves as the backbone organization for collective impact strategies to end homelessness in Santa Clara County , and helps channel funds into South County communities .

“ We ’ ve helped crank hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars of private funds into these communities by working in those phases ,” Cox said .

“ So on top of our regular homeless prevention efforts , we ’ ve added this to our task . Certainly in these times it ’ s been very , very , important . Every cent we get from them goes to the community . If it weren ’ t for the benevolence and the support we get from the community , I couldn ’ t do that . We will find other ways through our blessed support system to make that happen . We will continue to do that certainly into the New Year and as long as it takes to kind of get through this very , very , difficult pandemic . We ’ re going to stay the course ,” Cox said .