Perspective and Reflection - Working for a Nonprofit Addressing Food Insecurity During a Global Pandemic

It is now January 2021. It has been more than ten months since the global pandemic began to impact our nation. The losses have been unfathomable - more than 400,000 of our friends, neighbors, coworkers, family members and fellow citizens have died within the United States. Our only solace has been a cumulative effort of our world's brightest scientists who have now created a potent weapon to defeat this scourge.

This past week I had an opportunity to finally “exhale” for a brief moment. In that same breath, I was inspired to process what the pandemic has looked like from my own viewpoint. More so, through the eyes of someone who works for a nonprofit addressing food insecurity.

But first, some quick background information: Food Insecurity is not a new concept. It existed long before the word "COVID-19" was uttered from anyone's lips. However, the current pandemic has exacerbated a nationwide issue related to hunger that was previously under the radar for most American families. In 2019, about 10.5% of United States households were food insecure at least one time throughout the year according to the USDA. In 2020, that number exploded to nearly 1 in ever 4 American households (a whopping 25%)! Nonprofits, such as the one I work for, have worked to address food insecurity and social determinants of health for many decades. However, none were prepared for the number of individuals who would suddenly plunge into food insecurity in a matter of weeks.

During an early morning in February 2020, I remember sitting down in a meeting to discuss what our nonprofit would do if COVID-19 made it to the United States. As we sat around the room the "what if's" began to bubble to the surface and, if I am being perfectly honest, panic set in for everyone. That panic was dully warranted as Food Outreach's clients are not only food insecure, they are also battling chronic illness, many have comorbidities such as diabetes and heart disease, most have polypharmacy needs, and nearly 40% are over the age of 60. As a result, all 2,000 men, women and children we serve are considered to be at the highest risk for COVID-19.

When you work for a nonprofit and deeply believe in a mission, it's impossible to not take things personally. For me, I felt the weight of the world descend upon my shoulders at the end of that February meeting. I felt a sense of personal responsibility to ensure we not only remained open to feed our clients, but also protected them from contracting an illness that could certainly kill them.

March 12, 2020: It was a day I hoped would never arrive, but it had mercilessly come knocking on our metaphorical door. After many weeks of planning, we had establish a line of defense. Overnight, we pivoted our agency's service model to a curbside and contact-free food delivery system for our clients as our region shut down. This system was a new and never-before tested service model for our agency. It became an impromptu pilot for us. (And after ten months, 350,000 pounds of food, and 1,600+ clients later - we have gratefully declared the model a success).

Looking back on the past year, two themes have stood out to me during this crisis: desperation and gratitude.

It's important to note that a vast majority of Food Outreach's clients fully depend on our services, while some have received food from our agency since 1993. As I type these words, I can still picture many of our clients during the first few weeks of the pandemic. Their faces, regardless of whether they were old or young, whether they were black, brown or white, or identified as male, female, or transgender, all had the same fear and desperation as they arrived to us by bus, car and on foot. They were frightened that their only safety net would run out of food or even worse - close our doors. I imagine this was not a microcosm within my own experience, but likely reflected in every nonprofit addressing food insecurity across America. However, for us, it was personal. We pride ourselves on building relationships with our clients over years and even decades. Those we serve are members of the Food Outreach family - a chosen family that has been established through compassion, dignity and trust. Therefore, experiencing our client's joy, as we reassured them that we would remain open to serve them throughout the crisis, was one of the most rewarding experiences of my tenure.

As we moved forward into the summer and fall of 2020, we continued to improve our service model. We welcomed volunteers back into our building and established regular curbside distribution days and hours. We dramatically increased our monthly meal home-delivery from 30 clients to 180 clients to ensure the most vulnerable individuals remained safely at home without having to take public transportation. We also began to reimagine our auxiliary services. Our registered dietitian began doing virtual intakes and nutrition education classes. We transformed our weekly congregate meal program into a weekly drive-thru lunch program. Each month included new and re-imagined additions to our services.

In conclusion, this past year was filled with adversity, but also inspiration. COVID-19 was not the first pandemic that Food Outreach has been through (Our agency opened in 1988, as a direct response to the AIDS pandemic). Yet, we have once again persevered with the same unwavering resilience and commitment to feeding those in need.

As I take my second breath and enter into 2021, I look backward with reverence and look forward with hope.

About Food Outreach:

Food Outreach provides nutrition counseling and healthy meals to men, women, and children who are under-resourced and living with HIV/AIDS or cancer so they can use both as powerful tools in the management of their disease. To be eligible for our services, an individual must have proof of diagnosis and meet income guidelines, i.e., live at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), but the majority (70%) of clients actually live at or below 100% of the FPL. Our comprehensive program includes medically appropriate scratch-made frozen meals and groceries, individual dietetic counseling specific to a client’s health status, nutrition education and classes, cooking classes, weekly congregate Monday Hot Lunches, and home delivery as appropriate. The main focus of our nutritional support is our Integrated Frozen Prepared Meals and Groceries program which allows clients to choose nutritious meal combinations best suited to their health status based on the evaluation and nutrition plan provided by our on-staff Registered Dietitian. By offering a combination of frozen prepared meals with groceries and produce from an expanded menu, clients maximize control over what and when they eat, and are better able to receive the amount of calories, vitamins and minerals that meets their special dietary needs.