Family Services of the Desert, Inc, dba Food Now

Food Now improves the quality of life for Coachella Valley residents by providing food assistance, community outreach and support services which strengthen families and build healthy communities. We serve our communities with dignity and respect, helping to end hunger, reduce poverty, and improve the wellbeing of those we are privileged to serve.

Food Now is a community food pantry serving the needs of the residents of Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Springs, and the surrounding areas.
Our mission is to improve the quality of life for residents in western Coachella Valley by providing food assistance, community outreach and support services which strengthen families and build healthy communities.
Our vision is that by serving our clients with dignity and respect, Food Now strives to end hunger, reduce poverty, and improve overall health and wellbeing of the communities we serve.
Food Now provides the following services at no cost to our clients:
Food Assistance: A healthy diet is a critical component to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Food Now provides a safe and secure source of healthy food for those who are economically disadvantaged. Food Now distributes over 800,000 pounds of healthy food annually, enough food to prepare over 1,000,000 meals.
Home Deliveries: Food Now provides home deliveries of weekly supplemental food for disabled veterans, those who are housebound due to a medical necessity, and vulnerable populations who are limited to access because of transportation barriers.
Children's Backpack Weekend Meals Program: The Food Now Children's Backpack Weekend Meals Program is a cooperative effort between Food Now and the Palm Springs Unified School District. Food Now provides selected chronically hungry children with additional meals and snacks on weekends.
Homeless Needs Program: Food Now provides homeless clients with a daily distribution of special ready to eat food packages which require no heating or refrigeration. Personal hygiene items are distributed monthly.
Senior Needs Program: Food Now provides seniors with additional non-food items the clients felt were vital but difficult to obtain. These items include incontinent supplies, toilet paper, shampoo, deodorant and soap and are distributed as needed.
Periodic health screening by a medical doctor: Periodic health screenings identify existing or pre-existing diseases and health risks, specifically obesity and diabetes. At risk clients are offered counseling on the importance of healthy life choices including diet and reap the benefits of early health risk detection.
Weekly outreach: A community benefits coordinator is available to assist clients and help them to understand and enroll in benefits available including Edison's CARE Program, WIC, SNAP, Affordable Health Care and Cover California. Presentations are available in English and Spanish.
Companion Animal Feeding Program: We also realize taking proper care of our pets can be a challenge, particularly when faced with economic challenges and financial uncertainty. Food Now provides struggling households with weekly supplemental food assistance at no cost to the client. And for our clients with pets, Food Now also provides weekly distributions of pet food and supplies.