School Impact

Email: schoolimpact@westgatechurch.org

Schools are the hub of our communities. Every citizen is impacted - in some way - by local schools. More than a dozen years ago, a group of moms, whose kids all went to different elementary schools, banded together to figure out a way to support the hard-working teachers and staff at the kids’ schools. That was the beginning of School Impact.

The pandemic was incredibly challenging for educators, as teachers were isolated from both each other and their students. School Impact served 9 local schools (and more than 600 educators), sending them gift cards, Starbucks, and providing food for in-person staff meetings (when they happened) -- just to let them know they were seen and valued. School Impact also helped the students in tangible ways, raising money for iPads and tech for low-income students and even getting IT specialists to coordinate with the Moreland School District to ensure every student had access to WiFi. Also, they made sure a taco truck showed up to give away free tacos to the more than 150+ graduates of Prospect High School at their grad night celebration.  

School Impact also rallied around community needs, giving more than $30,000 and helping to secure an additional $100,000 from local businesses and charities to help provide rent and food relief for low-income students and families in the Moreland School District. They also donated $10,000 and partnered with two other local churches to provide funding for a mobile COVID-testing vehicle to help low-income students, who were falling behind in school, get tested safely and quickly so they could return to school for on-campus instruction. In many ways, this past year saw School Impact making its biggest impact ever. Even if it was from a distance.

Safe Car Park  

Email: safecarpark@westgatechurch.org

San Jose has close to 3,000 “houseless” people - a term that refers to people who have a job and are gainfully employed, but, for a variety of reasons, can’t find a home. The Safe Car Park program is about homeless prevention at its core. It’s intended to provide people a safe place to park their vehicles at night, rest, engage with the community, and continue to work so they can transition into more stable housing. WestGate Church partners with other local churches and organizations on a 1 month rotation, and uses both our Saratoga and South Hills campuses to provide a safe place for our guests to park and use our restrooms and facilities.  

In the past year, our serve teams also provided hot meals, gift cards for groceries and food, and the dignity of friendship. We also assisted social workers to help these guests with housing placement, car repairs, and other social services. Since July 2020, 10 participants have found a more permanent housing solution and are no longer living in their vehicles. 

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL)

Email: esl@westgatechurch.org

WestGate Church runs one of the least expensive ESL programs for adult immigrants in the entire Bay Area. Before COVID, the program had 19 volunteers who served more than 100 people from 11 different ethnic and language backgrounds. 

COVID made things incredibly difficult, but we were able to offer 2 classes for 22 students. As things open up, we hope to offer in-person classes – ranging from classes for beginners who speak no English to classes for fluent speakers who want to learn idioms, vocabulary, and practice pronunciation techniques. In addition, we hope to help students - most of whom hail from Eastern Asia and have little exposure to Christianity – connect with caring teachers and find community. In the past, pastors have participated in ESL by sharing their immigrant stories and also explaining the meaning of Christmas and Easter during those seasons of the class.

Food Pantry

Email: foodpantry@westgatechurch.org

During COVID-19, WestGate Church’s Food Pantry - which for years had served some of our lowest-income neighbors in the South Almaden Valley near our South Hills campus - grew more than five-fold as a result of the income instability caused by the pandemic. Many families had to make impossible decisions: should we pay rent or buy food? Because of that, the food pantry was the single largest opportunity we had to serve our community during shelter-in-place.  

Once a month, our South Hills Campus turned into a distribution site for Second Harvest Food Bank, giving away literally TONS of canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen meats, and eggs, cheese and dairy. Throughout the pandemic in 2020 and early 2021, the Food Pantry supported 175 households a month. For the year, we supported more than 2100 households – which included 3360 adults, 3500 children, and more than 2400 seniors for the year.

But it was about more than food. Because of our relationships with these families, we were able to come alongside them to help in other ways, including buying families with children items from their Christmas wish list, providing back-to-school supplies, and even helping with rent. 

The Food Pantry helped us prove to our community that when there’s a crisis, the church will be there to support those who need it the most.