Redwood City church and nonprofit facing eviction unbending on serving community

A Redwood City church and nonprofit has spent two decades responding to the needs of the city’s most vulnerable, its Latino residents, and even more so during the pandemic but now the team that operates those services is focused on finding a new home as it faces eviction.

For 20 years, Verbo Family Services has operated as both a place of worship and a community resource, largely focusing its attention on Redwood City’s Latino immigrant population living on the west side of the city. 

The residents who make up their clients and their all-volunteer staff are predominantly low-income Spanish speakers who’ve turned to the center for assistance with child care, tutoring for their children or groceries. But since its inception, they’ve also found a community, Orlando Cardona, pastor and co-founder of Verbo Family Services, said.

“Our program is focused on the family, the parents and the kids and I love the North Fair Oaks community because I know the big need,” Patty Cardona, Verbo Family Services co-founder and Orlando Cardona’s wife, said. 

Orlando Cardona, a former contractor, said he never intended to become a pastor or to start a nonprofit with his wife, but a home bible study group began to gain traction decades ago and the more he interacted with families, the more apparent the community’s need became.

A partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank enabled the organization to start providing grocery bags full of milk products, produce, meat and other necessities to whoever lined up outside their door. They eventually expanded their footprint by setting up a location in Tracy and offering similar programs and church services. 

At its peak, more than 400 people filled the church located at 2798 Bay Road, on Sundays, Orlando Cardona said. Then COVID-19 struck the Bay Area, putting people out of work, draining bank accounts and displacing those who live in the shadows of one of the wealthiest areas in the nation. 

The crisis put into context just how close families were to disaster, especially Latinos, Orlando Cardona said. Early on in the pandemic, a line of people could be seen along the blocks leading to the organization’s warehouse in hopes of receiving what Verbo had to offer. 

“As a pastor, that’s one of the hardest parts, seeing people getting sick,” Orlando Cardona said. “Never before [have I seen] so many people with a lot of need on their souls. They feel lonely, like they feel like they need to open their hearts.” 

Growing need

The first time Orlando Cardona had to turn people away 30 minutes after opening, he called the food bank to request larger orders and was promised if they opened additional days, the food would be there. 

With that assurance, Verbo began hosting food distributions three days a week and opened a third location in San Jose. To help the nonprofit with the necessary infrastructure for transporting and storing the goods, Second Harvest donated refrigerators and a van to the organization. 

“There’s a lot of low-income families and there’s a big need,” Orlando Cardona said. “If there is a need we’re going to serve the people in need.” 

But as the community’s needs grew, so did the churches. Having to close its doors due to safety concerns meant the church couldn’t host indoor soccer leagues which brought in about $12,000 of revenue a month. Without in-person processions, the church was also unable to collect donations from its parishioners, another major revenue stream. 

The financial uncertainty forced Orlando Cardona to forgo his salary as the head of the organization and to begin collecting unemployment to keep his family taken care of and the nonprofit running. 

Rent trouble

When he realized he couldn’t afford to pay the full $20,000 a month in rent, he offered to vacate the building, but Orlando Cardona said his landlords, the owners of Lahlouh Inc., negotiated an agreement that allowed the church to pay half its monthly rent to remain on site, given the important role the nonprofit played in the community. 

For more than a year, Orlando Cardona said he paid $10,000 in rent until this April when a partnership with another church helped cover the full $20,000. Three months later, Orlando Cardona said he was told he had to either repay the nearly $150,000 in rent that went unpaid during the pandemic in full or vacate the property by the end of January despite his contract extending into 2024. 

Given that the agreement with his landlords was only spoken and never written down, Orlando Cardona said he doesn’t have paperwork to back his claims but he’s also unsure of the legality of their landlord’s demand given that eviction moratoriums were instituted at the time. Representatives with Lahlouh Inc. did not respond to requests for comment. 

“We didn’t pay the full rent, I’m honest with that but he agreed with us,” Orlando Cardona said. 

Having organically grown in the site, Orlando Cardona shared disappointments with having to leave it behind. Patty Cardona called the site “perfect,” noting most of their clients are within walking distance of their services and as are their volunteers who have become like family to them. 

Though the team would prefer to stay at its current location where the community is most familiar with them existing, Orlando Cardona said he’d rather focus on serving the community than to get caught in a complex and expensive legal battle. 

Other options

Their next best option would be to find another warehouse in the community because moving out of the area would pull desperately needed services away from those the church set out to assist in the first place, they both said. 

After working as a program director with the education organization, Head Start, for 10 years, Patty Cardona said she knows the level of need across the region. But she’s become deeply familiar with the Fair Oaks community and fears leaving them behind for another city. 

“I know the need is everywhere but I have my heart over here,” Patty Cardona said. “I am sad but I feel God is going to provide something. He knows our hearts and I hope we’re going to find something good to continue doing this job.”

If moving away is the only option, Orlando Cardona said his team would be determined to continue assisting North Fair Oaks residents whether that means setting up its services in parks or parking lots or finding separate locations for the food distribution and church services. 

But the Cardonas remain hopeful they’ll find a solution that keeps the nonprofit operating within the Fair Oaks community. The team recently established a donation page on their website but are well aware their survival depends on large contributions from generous corporate donors.  

“We’re not going to stop. We know the need is there and we’re going to keep serving our community somehow,” Orlando Cardona said. 

Virginia Huffman, a 20-year volunteer with the church, is helping search for a new site but doing so has been challenging, she said. Few spaces are available at this time and those that are on the market are either too expensive, too small or too far away. 

At minimum, Huffman said the church would like to find a space with at least 10,000 square feet for around $10,000 a month. 

“We’re not asking for charity. We’re just asking for a way to continue the ministry and serve the community here,” Huffman said. “I’m not a professional fundraiser. I just believe in the organization and I know that it needs to continue here because they’ve been doing this for so long the community needs them.

Visit Verbo Family Services’ website at verbocalifornia.org/family-services for more information on program offerings and donation opportunities. Inquiries can also be emailed to Virginia Huffman at virginiahuffman@gmail.com. 

sierra@smdailyjournal.com 

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106