Nourish AV: Expanding Food Equity at the Access Center

Income inequality

Antelope Valley

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

In Palmdale, food insecurity affects not only unhoused individuals but also low-income families, seniors, and youth who struggle with access to reliable, nutritious meals. While services exist across the Antelope Valley, there remains a significant gap in centrally located, walkable food access points, particularly for those without transportation. Valley Oasis, a trusted provider of trauma-informed care, crisis intervention, and housing services, is prepared to fill this gap. Through our centrally located Access Center - near County DMH Offices and Palmdale Post Office - we will offer hot meals, pantry items, and nutrition support to all community members, regardless of housing status. This initiative promotes dignity, strengthens social connection, and advances food equity in alignment with Palmdale’s broader efforts to support its more vulnerable residents.

This grant will launch a community-centered meal and nutrition initiative at Valley Oasis’ new Access Center in central Palmdale - an urgently needed response to the growing food insecurity. The program will provide hot meals, pantry staples, hydration, and nutrition education in a welcoming, trauma-informed environment for individuals and families, regardless of housing status. In Palmdale, prepared meals are nearly nonexistent, and emergency food resources are concentrated in Lancaster, often inaccessible due to limited transportation.
The Antelope Valley faces some of the highest poverty and income inequality rates in Los Angeles County. For residents living at the margins, consistent access to nutritious food is a daily challenge, exacerbating chronic health issues, and hindering progress toward employment and housing.
Valley Oasis, with over 40 years of trusted service in crisis response, housing, and advocacy, is uniquely positioned to lead this effort. Our new Access Center is centrally located near key services like the post office and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health office, making it an ideal hub for nourishment and care. Funding will support food procurement, equipment (refrigeration and warming units), staffing, and supportive supplies. This initiative restores dignity, reduces harm, builds community connection, and creates pathways toward stability.

If our work is successful, LA County, especially the Antelope Valley, will see measurable improvements in health, stability, and quality of life for its most vulnerable residents. More individuals and families will have consistent access to nutritious meals, and fewer children will go to bed hungry. Nourished people are better positioned to address urgent needs like housing, employment, and mental health care. By reducing food insecurity, we alleviate daily survival stress and create space for long-term solutions.
This initiative will also reduce preventable ER visits and hospitalizations at Antelope Valley’s overburdened medical center, where conditions like dehydration, malnutrition, and unmanaged diabetes are worsened by hunger. Our work will ease strain on public systems, restore dignity, and promote resilience. The Access Center’s meal program will serve as a replicable model of how nourishment, delivered with compassion, can build a stronger, more equitable LA County.