“I was diagnosed with HIV in 1982. I spent my whole life dreading becoming disabled and prayed that I would never need to ask for help from ssi or any other services. After suffering a heart attack from the HIV medications, I found myself in need of help and on ssi. I was having trouble standing and very weak using a walker so I first contacted another well used meal delivery service. Not all meals were covered and I found myself hungry many times with no meal choices or snacks and unable to cook for myself. On Christmas and Thanksgiving I was alone and waited all day  only for no one to show up. I also suffer from mental health issues including major depressive disorder and anorexia. I thought of crawling under the covers and never coming out but instead I mentioned this to my case manager and she said, “You need to check out Mama’s Kitchen.” Wow! The food is so delicious and there is fresh fruit and snacks. The meals are so wonderful, roast beef with gravy on taters, turkey burgers with cheese that are so tasty, and wonderful filling amounts of the best food I’ve ever eaten! I have to say thank you. The staff and volunteers have treated me with such respect and you can tell that they really care about how I am doing.

They made a special diet for me to recover from my heart attack that involved 5 stents which years ago would be a quintuplet bypass. I was very depressed after the attack and having the Love and attention from Mama’s Kitchen has given me new hope, and I look forward so much to when the food is delivered to see what wonderful things are in my food bag. I tell everyone I know about the wonderful meals that are delivered, and my sister is so glad to know that even though she can’t be here, there is a group of people here in San Diego that are dedicated to make sure I have something good to eat. Thank you so much Mama’s Kitchen. When I was considering suicide you  made my life more bearable and I am so thankful for your kindness.”

–Jesse