CalFresh benefit delays<\/a>\u00a0last year, the center saw a significant increase of people needing help \u2014 and it hasn\u2019t let up. Board President Saqib Hassan told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight the center has seen an almost 50% increase in food assistance as inflation continues to rise.<\/p>\nA steady stream of cars encircles the center every first Saturday of the month to pick up packages of rice, flour, sugar and oil. The food pantry also includes pasta, legumes, fruit, vegetables and hygiene supplies.<\/p>\n
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The Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose provides a food pantry and food distribution services for people in need. (Photo courtesy Evergreen Islamic Center via San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight)<\/p>\n
What started with serving about 50 families has grown to approximately 135. The center distributed 30,453 pounds of food at a cost of $46,632 last year, according to Jawed Iqbal, operations team member. The center spends about $175 every month on the food pantry, with community members contributing most of the items.<\/p>\n
\u201cFood is getting expensive, especially for people who \u2026 don\u2019t have much to spare,\u201d Iqbal told\u00a0 San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIt gives them some help \u2026 something they can rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health services are offered on Sundays by a large rotating staff of volunteers, including medical and dental professionals. The health care component provides primary care consultations, physical therapy, OBGYN care, psychiatry, basic lab work and medication. The Evergreen Islamic Center contracts with APPNA Community Health Center for its medical volunteers.<\/p>\n
More than 650 patients have received services at the free clinic between 2020, when the health clinic first opened, through 2025. Yazadi said that equates to $1 million. The center also refers patients to specialists and surgeons.<\/p>\n
Dr. Mubasher Rana said patients receive care they otherwise might go without.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to do everything that we possibly can to help them,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThey\u2019re very appreciative because it\u2019s very hard, especially for people who don\u2019t have insurance to navigate the system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resident Hamza Khan, who previously brought his mother to the center for medical care, came by himself on Feb. 22 to see the dentist. He said being able to access medical and dental care without a fee is incredibly helpful for his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means that we won\u2019t have to go through the hospital,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cAnd for folks that do not have health insurance, the community trying to help us this way means a lot. We have family that volunteer here as doctors as well, so we are part of both sides of the cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan said his mother received good service despite the clinic being crowded with patients waiting to be seen.<\/p>\n
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Evergreen Islamic Center board members said the center\u2019s health care services are open to all uninsured people. (Lorraine Gabbert\/San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight)<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were really helpful, really organized and they got us in on time,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they followed up as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Nazish Mir said the center started offering dental services last year, including exams, X-rays, cleanings, preventative screenings and referrals.<\/p>\n
\u201cDental services are pretty expensive,\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWe do have other bigger community health clinics around. The problem is, they are completely overbooked. And for somebody in pain or needing some antibiotics for an infection, the ER is the only choice and we all know ERs are overburdened. Helping them with basic stuff helps them down the line to avoid bigger problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
The center\u2019s resident scholar, Imam Sami Rehman, said it is a place where residents come for healing, as well as spiritual well-being.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had somebody come to me after the morning prayer,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cHe was having a very difficult time in his marriage. He just needed someone to talk to. I\u2019ve firsthand seen the direct impact of services that are provided here \u2026 directly affecting the lives of both the Muslim and non-Muslim community here every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The center\u2019s annual Grand Iftar, a large community gathering held during Ramadan to break the fast, will be held from 7-8:15 p.m. on March 8 at 2486 Ruby Ave. in San Jose.<\/p>\n
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at\u00a0lorrainegabbertsjspotlight@gmail.com.<\/p>\n
This story originally appeared in San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DURING RAMADAN and daily prayer, the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose offers a place for spiritual reflection.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2702,20378,95519,95520,3401,1280,95521,31381,5466,76642,88,90,89,881,95522],"class_list":{"0":"post-207020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-charity","9":"tag-community-service","10":"tag-dental-care","11":"tag-evergreen-islamic-center","12":"tag-food-pantry","13":"tag-health-care","14":"tag-islamic","15":"tag-medical-care","16":"tag-nonprofits","17":"tag-ramadan","18":"tag-san-jose","19":"tag-san-jose-headlines","20":"tag-san-jose-news","21":"tag-san-jose-spotlight","22":"tag-second-harvest-of-silicon-valley"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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