SAN LEANDRO, CA — Kimberly Thomas is the kitchen manager at Dig Deep Farms Food Hub in San Leandro. Before that, she was an intern at Dig Deep Farms. Before that, she was an inmate at Santa Rita Jail.
Thomas oversees kitchen use, deliveries and more for the food hub, which provides healthy meals and distributes produce to low-income residents. It opened in January 2020, ABC7 reported, created by the nonprofit Alameda County Sheriffs Activities League.
The Food Hub is the newest addition to Dig Deep Farms, which has three farms that grow and distribute fresh produce in Ashland, Cherryland and San Leandro. According to Dig Deep Farms’s Facebook page, the initiative intends to provide healthy food while providing job opportunities to formerly incarcerated people.
According to the league, Thomas was incarcerated at Santa Rita not long ago.
After being released, Thomas said her case manager told her about a pilot program that Dig Deep Farms was trying: a six-week paid internship program for people recently released from incarceration. Thomas had just had carpal tunnel surgery, but she decided to try for it anyway.
“I was so determined to turn my life around. I didn’t care what I needed to do to take a step forward, just to have an honest income,” she said.
Thomas was the first intern to graduate from the program.
She received help from a case manager provided through Operation My Home Town, launched by the county sheriff’s Youth and Family Services Bureau in 2011 to prevent the cycle of recidivism. Thomas says her case manager supported her “in every way possible.”
“Not only was she my case manager, but she was also my therapist,” Thomas said. “She supported me in any decision making that I needed to do to better myself, whether I needed transportation, if I needed somebody to be an advocate for me, or just anything that I needed help with—she was there to help me to the best of her ability. That woman is an angel.”
Thomas now works full time at the food hub. As a kitchen manager, she coordinates kitchen use with renters, gives tours, manages appliances and equipment, handles orders and more. She wears multiple hats, acting as a delivery coordinator and job trainee on top of her kitchen manager duties.
“From where I’ve been to where I’m at now, even I see the total transformation,” she said. “If people really want to know if this can work, I literally have been here through the whole process.”
Thomas has been reunited with her family and enjoys being a part of providing healthy food to families in her community.
“My favorite part is knowing that I’ve made a difference in somebody else’s life, just as well as the re-entry program made a difference in my life,” she said.
Jobs Available at the Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs Activities League
Check the league’s job listings page for more details.
Dig Deep Food Hub Administrative Coordinator
$26/hr, 401K, Health Insurance, Paid Time Off, Phone & Computer Stipend
The purpose of the Food Hub Admin is to coordinate and oversee administrative duties in the hub, and ensure that the office operates efficiently and smoothly. The responsibilities generally include duties like greeting visitors, managing office supplies, overseeing other administrative staff, owning budgets, and supporting staff with administrative tasks like scheduling meetings, note taking, filing, typing, copying, binding, scanning etc.
Dig Deep Food Hub Farmacist: Food Recovery
$26/hr, 401K, Health Insurance, Paid Time Off, Phone & Computer Stipend
Farmacists will primarily, but are not limited to, properly taking care of and preparing produce for sale, communicating with clients/customers, providing good customer service, answering questions about produce and providing educational content, restocking produce and supplies for farmacy, and documenting inventory and sales (i.e., cash, credit, debit and voucher redemption). In addition to staffing the Farmacy, the farmacist will also participate in urban farming related activities (i.e., seeding, planting, harvesting vegetable crops for production).
Dig Deep Food Hub Farmacist: Food as Rx
$26/hr, 401K, Health Insurance, Paid Time Off, Phone & Computer Stipend
Farmacists will primarily, but are not limited to, properly taking care of and preparing produce for sale, communicating with clients/customers, providing good customer service, answering questions about produce and providing educational content, restocking produce and supplies for farmacy, and documenting inventory and sales (i.e., cash, credit, debit and voucher redemption). In addition to staffing the Farmacy, the farmacist will also participate in urban farming related activities (i.e., seeding, planting, harvesting vegetable crops for production).
Urban Farmer
$20/hr, 401K, Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Paid Time Off
This job opportunity at Dig Deep Farms is for those who already have farming skills and plant knowledge or people self-motivated to learn these skills. Dig Deep Farms is dedicated to building social and environmental justice practices in our urban communities.
Volunteer Coordinator
$20/hr, 401K, Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Paid Time Off
The Volunteer Coordinator will assist in direction, coordination, supervision, documentation and consultation with all volunteers and volunteer activities that take place Monday-Friday (or occasionally on pre-scheduled weekends). The Volunteer Coordinator will aid in keeping a database of volunteer information and bios, matching volunteers to opportunities that match their skills and interests, keeping volunteers informed, conveying Dig Deep Farms’ urban farming principles and practices, develop and maintain relationships with other volunteer organizations within the area, publicize opportunities for volunteers, conduct and/or arrange for volunteer orientation and training, under instruction of farm management and volunteer coordinator(s) help develop and manage volunteer policies, procedures, and standards of volunteer service.