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Pastor Ralph Olmos, founder of Lighthouse Food Rescue & Distribution, said it would\u00a0 be a blow to the community if the organization shut down. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\nWhen Lighthouse Food Rescue & Distribution first started handing out groceries\u00a0in San Jose\u2019s Northside neighborhood in 2020, Robert Wright welcomed it and its mission to feed disadvantaged residents.<\/p>\n
He pitched a Lighthouse yard sign in front of his\u00a0house near\u00a0the food pantry, which sits at the corner of East Julian and North 17th streets in the middle of blocks of single-family homes.\u00a0Soon after, he began fielding complaints about the operation \u2014 blocked driveways, discarded food, people urinating and defecating in the area and neighbors being unable to use the sidewalk because of the outdoor food distribution.<\/p>\n
As a board member for the Julian-St. James Neighborhood Association, the 75-year-old Wright defended the food pantry as doing good,\u00a0necessary work. But the complaints continued, and after a year his patience\u00a0wore down. Wright is now part of a chorus of neighbors who say Lighthouse\u2019s operations have gotten too big for the area to handle. The food pantry serves more than 1,000 people a day, five days a week from noon to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty universal that people want them to go because they\u2019ve clearly been a public nuisance,\u201d Wright told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cBecause of their success of attracting more people in a place that\u2019s not (big) enough to serve them, the impact of there being a nuisance has grown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pastor Ralph Olmos, founder of Lighthouse Food Rescue & Distribution, said it would\u00a0 be a blow to the community if the organization shut down. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 25,\u00a0San Jose cited Lighthouse<\/a> for hosting its food distribution on the sidewalk and\u00a0not following zoning rules, and threatened to fine the nonprofit up to $20,000 a day for having its distribution outside. The citation also said the food pantry must stop operations within 60 days, as a food distribution center isn\u2019t permitted in that neighborhood.<\/p>\n Pastor Ralph Olmos, president and CEO of Lighthouse Food Rescue & Distribution, said the city has waived the fines for now, and is working to help him relocate. Staying in the\u00a0neighborhood is essential for him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great that we\u2019re (being offered) all these things, but the first pending charges on this compliance order just seem to be swept under the rug with no understanding right now,\u201d Olmos told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n In September 2022, the City Council approved rezoning Northside, along with other neighborhoods, in response to new state requirements which mandated cities come up with a comprehensive plan for development. The change meant social service groups such as Lighthouse were no longer permissible uses in that neighborhood. Olmos said no one informed him of the change. Councilmembers waived permit fees<\/a> just months earlier that would have cost him up to $15,500 in order to operate after community uproar over the possibility of the food pantry shuttering.<\/p>\n Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, whose District 3 includes the Northside neighborhood, said Lighthouse\u2019s current site isn\u2019t appropriate for this scale of operation due to the code violations and neighborhood complaints. But he wants the food pantry to stay in District 3, which is the epicenter of homelessness in the city.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been clear from the start that the appropriate response is not to shut down the food distribution altogether, but to find a location that better meets the operational needs of Lighthouse and the residents it serves,\u201d Tordillos told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Lifeline to the community<\/p>\n Olmos founded the food distribution center<\/a> at the height of the pandemic in 2020. He saw people, freshly unemployed, desperate to feed their families. He said he sees the same level of need today<\/a>.<\/p>\n The food pantry attracts people from surrounding areas due to its central location that is accessible with public transit.<\/p>\n One woman, who asked not to be named due to privacy concerns, takes the bus from Santa Clara to the food pantry twice a week. She recently started coming to Lighthouse after another distribution group ran out of food, and said it\u2019s been a lifeline since she got laid off from a software company more than a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand the concept of \u2018not in my backyard,’\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI\u2019ve been in situations where you have a noisy neighbor\u2026but\u00a0everybody has the right to have food and to not go to bed hungry or anxious. It\u2019s a minor inconvenience to ask that they support Lighthouse in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n There are about 60 neighbors who have complained about the food pantry, Wright said. His wife, who\u00a0uses a wheelchair, can\u2019t use the\u00a0sidewalk in front of Lighthouse, along with other\u00a0neighbors with disabilities who have complained.<\/p>\n \u201cA line of strangers outside your place everyday, that would make me rather uncomfortable,\u201d Wright said. \u201c(Olmos) made the choice that for the greater good, he would rather inconvenience us and irritate us and rob us of our quiet enjoyment of our property than turn away people who were hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_9628-1024x768.jpeg\")
Lighthouse Ministries Food Pantry is at risk of closing down again after being hit by zoning violations. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\n
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