Stories from the National Hunger Hotline: Helping Families in Transition
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The National Hunger Hotline (NHH), a service of WhyHunger's National Hunger Clearinghouse, provides real-time referrals for people in need across the US to emergency food and assistance programs. The NHH is a portal to information, assistance, and resources, ultimately empowering families and individuals to meet their vital needs including fresh, healthy food. In Stories from the Hotline, we share some of the experiences of callers and our efforts to support them.
"National Hunger Hotline, how can I help you?" the Hotline advocate asks, answering an early morning call from Dorchester, MA.
"Hi, my name is Tammy Donnelly, and I'm trying to find somewhere my kids and I can go to get food. We just woke up and we're real hungry," she says urgently into the phone.
"Ok, what's your zip code?"
"Hang on one second," Tammy says, before speaking to a child in the background. "Martin, go wake up Bob and ask him what the zip code is." She apologizes, "Sorry, we've been staying with a friend lately, so it's his zip code." There is some rustling before a man's voice is heard in the background.
"The zip code, what's the zip code here?" Tammy asks.
"Tammy, don't get anything mailed here," he tells her. "We don't need anything else coming this way."
"Just give me the zip code. He's going to help me find some food for the kids."
Bob tells Tammy the zip code and she repeats, "It's 02121. Sorry, his lease is up the 15th and we've got to find somewhere to go for the holidays. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
"I'll see what we can find," the Hotline advocate says. After scanning the WhyHunger database, the operator gives Tammy the numbers of some local shelters and food pantries before asking if there is anything else that he can help her with.
"No, that'll be it for now, just gotta get to calling. We really need to keep moving through Christmas. Say 'thank you,' kids," she says, passing the phone to them as they thank the NHH advocate.
The National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3 HUNGRY and 1-877-8 HAMBRE (1-866-348-6479 and 1-877-842-6273), refers people in need of emergency food assistance to food pantries, government programs, and model grassroots organizations that work to improve access to healthy, nutritious food and build self-reliance. Help is available on Monday through Friday from 9am-6pm EST. Hablamos espańol. The Hotline is funded in part by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
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WhyHunger Database Profile Updates
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Please verify that your organization's profile is accurate in the WhyHunger database. If you need to update your record, please email nhc@whyhunger.org. If your organization is not in the database, please click here to join.
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Ten Ways to Help End Hunger
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The holiday season is a time of generosity and giving when many people donate their time and resources to help feed the hungry. During these last few weeks, communities across the country will organize food drives and volunteer at their local food pantries and soup kitchens. These are good entry points for people looking to make a difference, but in order to create lasting change, we need to further the conversation and advocate for solutions that address the root causes of hunger and poverty. Here are our top ten ways to help end hunger this holiday season:
1. Power up your food drive.
Emergency food providers (food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens) can purchase and acquire food in bulk, which means that a dollar donated can go many times farther than a dollar spent on cans for a food drive. Cash donations also help pay the important but often overlooked overhead costs of running a food pantry or soup kitchen, such as transportation or utilities.
Still want to hold a food drive? Ask people to match each food item they donate with a dollar, or host a healthy food drive. Many people who depend on food pantries and soup kitchens have diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure, so to maintain health, they need foods that are low in sugar, fat and salt. Take a look at SuperFood Drive's materials for hosting a healthy food drive, and be sure to ask the food pantry or soup kitchen what types of food or supplies they need the most. You won't know until you ask, and you may be surprised.
2. Advocate for federal nutrition programs.
About one in four Americans depends on USDA food and nutrition assistance programs to help feed themselves and their families. These programs, such as SNAP, WIC and public school breakfast and lunch provide over 20 times more food than food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens do, which is why it is so important to advocate for government policies that help hungry people, especially as Congress considers deep cuts to these programs.
3. Volunteer in February.
Many people like to volunteer on Thanksgiving or Christmas because it feels good to help people in need, but food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens need dedicated volunteers year-round. Start a new tradition and sign up to help on a different day, like Arbor Day, or your birthday.
Many emergency food providers are in need of volunteers with specialized skills, such as accounting, social media or website design. If you have something unique to offer, talk to the organization to see how you can get involved.
Continue reading our top ten ways to help end hunger at huffingtonpost.com.
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Millions Struggle to Eat While Congress Considers More SNAP Cuts
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On November 1, the nearly 48 million Americans who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) had their benefits cut. Households are seeing a seven percent average reduction in SNAP benefits. This may not seem like a lot, but for a low-income family still trying to recover from the effects of the recession, it makes a big difference.
As an advocate working on the National Hunger Hotline (1-866-3-HUNGRY), every day I speak with people who are struggling to feed themselves and their families. Many of our callers have been particularly affected by the SNAP cuts and are looking for more information and help finding food. Earlier this month, a senior from Birmingham, AL, called to ask for the number of her local SNAP office. She was worried after hearing about the SNAP cuts on the news, but she was not able to find out how much her benefits would be decreased. As a retiree on a fixed income, she needed to know how much she would have to spend on food in order to budget her already limited resources. Even a little less would mean tougher decisions at the grocery store and smaller portions.
A few days later, I received a call from a family with a young daughter. The father had lost his job due to the recession and the mother was working a part-time job to support the three of them. She had recently picked up a few extra hours at work, but as a result of her slight income increase, their SNAP benefits were cut. Then, due to the nationwide SNAP cuts on November 1, their benefits were reduced for the second time in two months. "I honestly don't know how we're going to make it," she told me.
I was able to refer them to food pantries in their area, but it is unlikely that charity will be able to replace their lost benefits. Emergency food providers such as food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens distribute about $5 billion worth of food to hungry people each year. But this year, $5 billion is also the amount being cut from SNAP, which "makes it as if every single emergency food provider in the United States didn't exist," according to Joel Berg, executive director of New York City Coalition Against Hunger.
Continue reading at care2.com.
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The Ingredients for Change: Elijah's Promise
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Elijah's Promise is not your usual emergency food provider. Located in New Brunswick, NJ, this multi-faceted organization is using food as a tool for change. It houses a community soup kitchen, culinary arts school, catering company, small business incubator and a pay-what-you-can café. Forward-thinking, Elijah's Promise exemplifies how food can be used in many ways to change the lives of the people that walk through its doors, whether through serving a healthy meal, teaching people how to cook or supporting small food businesses.
Elijah's Promise wasn't always the leader in good food that it is today. That path started some 20 years ago when in a single day, two events sparked the staff to rethink the way they did things. A mother came into Executive Director Lisanne Finston's office after having received her pantry bag from the neighboring food pantry (a separate organization). She placed the bag on Lisanne's desk and proceeded, item by item, to explain why she couldn't give any of the not-so-healthy food to her young, diabetic son. Later that day, a group of volunteers-- often outside groups who purchase and prepare the meals-- were making lunch for the soup kitchen when Lisanne saw the group dump a large jar of Cheez Whiz into a tuna casserole. The staff decided that things needed to change. At a panel discussion that Lisanne sat on, she announced to the room that Elijah's Promise was going to serve healthy food to their clients. The entire room erupted in laughter at an idea that nowadays is very commonplace.
Their next step was to talk with their clients through a series of focus groups. The staff learned that many clients had chronic health issues, couldn't eat some of the food being served and wanted healthier options. Today, the soup kitchen often has three or four fruit or vegetable dishes available at each meal. They serve only water now instead of offering juices. (Over the years, they have seen the transformation of fruit juices from 100% juice to sugary, additive-laden drinks that only contain 10% fruit juice.) Based on feedback from the focus groups, the soup kitchen serves dessert twice a week because their clients believe in everything in moderation.
The new challenge of sourcing healthier food actually turned into several new opportunities for Elijah's Promise. Reducing the amount of unhealthy food they served, which was often physically heavy and more expensive to transport, freed up funds and created more fridge and freezer space to store the fresh produce they were beginning to acquire through new relationships with local farmers. The newfound storage space allowed them to process the produce for longer use. Their farm to freezer produce is now used by all aspects of the organization: the soup kitchen, the catering company, cooking school and the pay-what-you-can café.
In a separate building lies the economic and entrepreneurial home of Elijah's Promise: their culinary arts school, catering company and incubation space. Their cooking school trains students in the culinary and pastry arts, and the catering company creates food for Meals on Wheels and other community organizations and events. Their newest focus is incubating culinary students' small businesses and creating value added products, like homemade cranberry chutney for Thanksgiving, to sell at farmer's markets. Through these economic development projects, Elijah's Promise generates 25% of its own revenue.
Elijah's Promise is also working towards building a better food system in New Jersey and committed to advocating for policies that promote food security and nutrition for all people. In partnership with the City of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Methodist Church, they coordinate and manage four community gardens across the city. They run a community supported agriculture program with a local organic farmer who offers sliding scale and variable payment plan options. Elijah's Promise is also a part of the New Brunswick Community Food Alliance: a coalition of college students, city residents, community leaders and local government officials working together to build a sustainable and just food system in New Brunswick.
As we visit more innovative emergency food providers, some key patterns are emerging that influence change: visionary leadership; creating your vision with your clients, not for them; promoting good food for all; and seeing opportunity in challenges and investing in your local economy. Elijah's Promise is a great example of how change can happen if there is the right blend of these key elements.
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Healthy Food Donation Initiative
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The New York City Healthy Food Donation Initiative, created by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, aims to help emergency food programs (EFPs) increase the amount and types of healthy food they distribute to New Yorkers struggling to feed themselves and their families. Part of a citywide effort to support the health of low-income New Yorkers, the initiative provides resources to help EFP staff and volunteers source more nutritious food and help food companies donate healthy, surplus food. EFP resources, which could be adapted for use in other locations, include a healthy food drive letter template, a poster of how to pack a nutritious pantry bag and an overview of the Good Samaritan laws. Resources for food companies include a guide to donating healthy food surplus and a healthy food donation checklist.
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The Healthy Food Financing Handbook
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The Healthy Food Financing Handbook lays out a step-by-step approach to developing state and local policies that encourage the development of supermarkets and other healthy food stores in underserved communities. This approach originated with Pennsylvania's Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a collaboration between the Food Trust, the Reinvestment Fund and the Urban Affairs Coalition, and encourages supermarket development in underserved neighborhoods in North Philly.
Since its creation in 2004, it has informed the development of similar programs in many states, including New York's Healthy Food & Healthy Communities Fund and the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative and the Healthy Food Financing Initiative at the federal level. This document is intended to be a resource for advocates at public health and community and economic development organizations working to increase the availability of nutritious foods and to revitalize their neighborhoods.
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Study Shows Strong Nutrition Education Can Lead to Healthier Food Choices by SNAP Recipients
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Earlier this month, USDA FNS released a study providing clear evidence that well-designed nutrition education programs can lead to healthier food choices by participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The study, SNAP Education and Evaluation Study (Wave II), evaluated the impact of several nutrition education programs on fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income elementary school children and seniors. The study found that children participating in certain nutrition education programs increased their daily fruit and vegetable consumption at home by a quarter- to a third-cup, and were more likely to choose low-fat or fat-free milk. Participating seniors consumed about a half-cup more fruits and vegetables daily. "The results of this study reiterate the critical role of nutrition education and promotion in improving the healthfulness of SNAP purchases," said Under Secretary Kevin Concannon. "USDA and our partners continue to explore a wide-ranging set of strategies that support families as they purchase, prepare and eat more healthy foods." Click here to read the rest of the press release.
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CONNECT WITH US
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The Clearinghouse newsletter is meant, among other things, to encourage conversation and dialogue about transforming communities, community food security and the emergency food system. We see critical thinking, lively debate and reflective practice as a necessary part of systems change. We want to hear from you! Email us at nhc@whyhunger.org. Missed a past issue of the Clearinghouse Connection? Visit whyhunger.org/clearinghouseconnection to access previous newsletters and find permalinks that make it easy to share this resource with colleagues. Contributors: Suzanne Babb, Christine Binder, James Fuller and Jessica Powers. |
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