Walden Family Services Opens New ‘Wellness Pantry’ Developed in Partnership with San Diego Food Bank

Walden Family Services hosted community members, partners, and supporters at its Kearny Mesa headquarters on Monday, Oct. 5, to celebrate the opening of the Walden Wellness Pantry, a new distribution site serving young adults transitioning out of the child welfare system in partnership with Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. Launching the pantry during Walden’s 50th anniversary year marks an important milestone, reflecting the organization’s evolution from a foster care agency into a comprehensive support hub for transition age foster youth between ages 18 and 26.

Teresa Stivers, CEO of Walden Family Services, led the ribbon-cutting ceremony, where she was joined by Amy Elits, senior director of programs, San Diego Food Bank, and several other community guests who toured the pantry for the first time, browsing fully stocked shelves of food, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies and meeting the staff and volunteers who will manage the wellness pantry daily.

The Walden Wellness Pantry offers ‘everyday essentials’

Walden operates this pantry model across all three of its Southern California offices – Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego. The San Diego location is the newest to join. Each Walden Wellness Pantry combines fresh food, non-perishables, hygiene items, diapers, and pet supplies in a single resource. San Diego’s location continues that model while going a step further: it’s open to any transition age foster youth in the county, not just youth enrolled in Walden’s own services.

CalFresh and WIC benefits, the two programs most of Walden’s youth clients and their families rely on, cannot be used for everyday essentials such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, laundry detergent, or menstrual products because federal statute excludes them. “When money is short, families do not stop eating – they stop replacing toothpaste, stretch detergent, and ration diapers,” says Teresa Stivers, CEO, Walden Family Services. “The consequences can compound quickly: children miss school because a uniform cannot be washed, a young adult skips a job interview because they cannot present themselves as they need to, and a minor infection becomes a medical visit. The pantry is designed to fill that gap, providing fresh and non-perishable foods, hygiene products, cleaning supplies, and pet supplies, all at no cost and no questions asked.”

“Stable housing is an important foundation for helping young people build a healthy, independent future, and access to nutritious food is an essential part of that stability,” said Casey Castillo, CEO of the Food Bank. “Through the Walden Wellness Pantry, the San Diego Food Bank is proud to partner with Walden Family Services to ensure transitional age youth have access to the healthy food they need while they pursue education, employment, and the life skills that will help them thrive. Together, we’re supporting the whole person and helping create a stronger path toward independence.”

In its first year, the pantry is projected to support approximately 480 household visits and distribute 12,000 pounds of food, or roughly 10,000 meals. Walden will measure impact using the Hunger Vital Sign screener at intake and again at six months. The pantry operates on an annual budget of $100,000, and Walden is launching a year-end fundraising push to sustain it.

Former foster youth helps develop pantry program

Walden meets essential needs from day one. When a youth transitions into independent living around age 18, Walden provides food, a monthly stipend, free rent, and other essentials. The pantry will serve transition age foster youth age 18 to 26 currently enrolled in Walden’s program and will also support transition age foster youth participants served by other foster care organizations and the County of San Diego. The Walden Wellness Pantry will also be open to Walden’s program alumni and to transition age youth from across San Diego County, who need support and engagement periodically. The pantry was shaped in part by Haley Bergam, a former Walden participant and newly appointed member of Walden's Board of Directors, who drew on her own experience and her connections with former foster youth to help design it as a welcoming, respectful space where young people can pick up what they need with dignity.

“As a former participant in Walden's programs myself, I know how much it means when someone thinks about the everyday things young people need to feel settled and supported,” said Bergam. “Many youth aging out of foster care do so without the financial safety net most young adults take for granted. Helping build the Walden Wellness Pantry means the young people coming up after me will have one less thing to worry about, and they'll walk in knowing they belong here and can receive access to basic food and hygiene needs without barriers.”

Walden Wellness Pantry welcomes donations, volunteers from the community

The 300-square-foot pantry includes a refrigerator and freezer for perishable items and shelving for non-perishables. An additional 300 square feet of dedicated storage space supports it. Walden seeks ongoing donations of hygiene products, cleaning supplies, pet supplies, and non-perishable food. The San Diego chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SD SHRM) is one of the first groups to organize a drive for Walden Family Services' wellness pantry, collecting donations of essential personal care products and then participating in a group assembly project to create 100 complete hygiene bags to be delivered in mid-November.

The Walden Wellness Pantry also stocks hygiene products for a diverse client base, including co-washes and hairstyling products for curly or coily hair, hair protectants like bonnets and satin pillowcases, and fragrance-free or hypoallergenic options for those with sensitive skin.

Walden is also recruiting long-term volunteers to help staff the pantry and support its supply of donations. No background check or fingerprinting is required; Walden staff always supervise volunteers on-site, and volunteers of any age are welcome. The pantry will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with special hours for Walden participants.

“Fifty years ago, Walden was founded on the belief that every young person deserves stability and a place to belong,” said Stivers. “Seeing our neighbors, partners, and friends come together to open the Walden Wellness Pantry showed us how many people share that belief.” The Walden Wellness Pantry is one of the first milestones as part of a growing vision to serve as a comprehensive support hub for transitional age youth where young people can find housing, mentorship, and the everyday essentials they need to thrive. “The goal is independence – with a safety net,” said Stivers.

For more information about the Walden Wellness Pantry, and ways to support Walden Family Services, call 619-584-5777. Program sponsors are still needed. If interested in becoming a sponsor, contact Lorraine Fisher, director of philanthropy, at lfisher@waldenfamily.org for more details.

About Walden Family Services

Walden Family Services is a nonprofit human services organization with 50 years of experience supporting children, transitional age youth, and families across Southern California. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in San Diego, Walden is recognized for its leadership in foster care advocacy and transitional housing for young adults.

Walden believes housing stability paired with financial readiness is one of the most powerful — and often overlooked — tools for preventing child abuse and breaking cycles of instability. Over five decades, the organization has evolved to meet the changing needs of children and families, with a growing focus on housing solutions for transitional age youth, including young parents, who face housing instability through no fault of their own.

As Walden looks to the next 50 years, it will expand stable housing opportunities, strengthen prevention services, advance kinship care practices statewide, and continue to serve as a trusted partner to youth, families, property managers, donors, and government agencies across California. Learn more at www.waldenfamily.org.

About the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank

Established in 1977, the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in San Diego County. Serving as the countywide food safety net, the Food Bank provides nutritious food to people in need, advocates on behalf of the hungry, and educates the public about hunger-related issues. Through a network of direct service programs and more than 450 nonprofit partners, the Food Bank serves an average of 400,000 people every month. In fiscal year 2026, the organization distributed nearly 52 million pounds of food and resources — equivalent to 42.5 million meals. Learn more at sandiegofoodbank.org and follow us @sdfoodbank.