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Food
pantry truck visits SS. Peter & Paul
By Kevin Milliken for La Prensa
July 18, 2012: A team of social service agencies known as the
CARE Team spent an afternoon at
SS. Peter & Paul Church
distributing food to more than 100 families and linking them to
local resources to help them get through difficult economic
times.
Deb Ortiz-Flores,
director of Lucas County Job and Family Services (JFS),
explained that a mobile food pantry is a good way to draw
families in poverty, who can then choose the groceries they need
to survive. But it also gives a chance for social service
workers to directly connect with those families in crisis to
offer public assistance and other help.
“The mobile food pantry is a great way to get people to the CARE
team,” she said. “But it’s the wraparound services and referrals
with the community providers that is really the hook to connect
the family to many needed services. It’s not just ‘Here’s a bag
of food. Good luck.’”
Such “wraparound” services meet other needs, such as free blood
pressure screenings, flu shots and other preventative health
services, as well as books for kids and resources for family
pets—items that may be forgotten or unaffordable in troubled
economic times.
“Something’s going on that the family is feeling ‘food
insecure,’” said Ms. Ortiz-Flores. “They’re in crisis related to
other things—and that’s why United Way 211 is there, and
we’re there, for applications to food stamps, Medicaid, or other
government assistance or community partner assistance.”
More than 2,000 families in Lucas County have benefited from the
CARE Team and its mobile food bank since its inception three
years ago. The service is a partnership of LCJFS with various
sponsors including: United Way, Food for Thought, Read for
Literacy, Area Office on Aging, the Neighborhood Health
Association, Unison, Adelante Inc., ABLE, YWCA, LMHA, and other
organizations.
“It gives them some self-respect, some dignity to be able to go
in and make some selections on their own,” said Ms.
Ortiz-Flores.
The effort served more than 100 families, a realistic reflection
of the poverty facing families in the Old South End.
”We know the 43609 zip code has a large number of people in
poverty,” explained the county JFS director. “We know that the
43605 and 43609 are our top zip codes for people on public
assistance. We know there is lots of unemployment and other
social issues going on in those communities.”
“As more and more families are struggling to put food on the
table, CARE Team delivers resources directly to neighborhoods in
need,” echoed Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak.
“We hope to make things just a little easier during these
difficult economic times.”
The effort also tries to be culturally competent and provide
neighborhood-specific services. During Wednesday’s stop,
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), Adelante, Inc. and
Unison Behavioral joined the effort. Melissa Alvarado
represented the United Way and Fabiola Martínez of the
Neighborhood Health Association was in attendance in case
bilingual services were needed. So was Betty Hernández Rios
of LCJFS.
Many of the agencies involved will follow up with Latino families
to ensure they are properly enrolled in social services and
continue to receive long-term assistance.
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