EHP pushes back on CBS story with Letter to the Community

https://www.ehpcares.org/

The Ecumenical Hunger Program put out a letter this week addressing the CBS News story that ran about their tax filings. I got a copy of it and wanted to share it with the community along with a little context from my own experience.

For over 50 years EHP has been feeding and helping families in East Palo Alto. The CBS piece made it sound like they were just handing out money for personal stuff with no oversight. That’s not what happened.

Back in 2021, during the height of COVID, a lot of people in our community were struggling bad falling short on  rent, utilities, car repairs, medical bills, you name it. EHP started the Family Sustainability Program to try to catch some of those families before they completely fell through the cracks. They ended up giving out a little over $1.2 million to 252 households between 2022 and 2024.

The letter makes it clear that every single application went through the same process, whether it was a regular community member, an employee, or even family members of the Executive Director. Applications from Lesia Preston’s family were reviewed and approved by an independent board member and not by Lesia or her relatives. I know this process because I was on the board in 2020 and then worked there as a program manager from 2020 to 2022. The rules were the same for everybody. No special treatment.

In 2024 the board looked at the program and decided to shut it down. They admitted that things moved fast during COVID and the oversight wasn’t as tight as it should’ve been — which happened with a lot of emergency programs across the country. They’re not renewing it and are focusing back on their core work: food, clothing, household items, and holiday help.

Even without that program, EHP is still out here doing the work they’ve always done.

I’m sharing the full letter below so people can read it for themselves. With so many people struggling now, many at the same level as the COVID era, with this insanely horrible economy, it would be a shame if EHP wasn’t able to help so many folks continuing their mission. 

EHP was trying to help people survive a really rough time, and they had rules in place, even if those rules weren’t perfect.

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