Food Depository Internship Program Helps Keep Pantry Doors Open
July 28th, 2010
When Sister Catherine Marie Lowe started as director of Family Services for Marillac Social Center in July 2009, she was the department’s only staff member. With the array of services Marillac offered, Sister Catherine was quickly overwhelmed by the breadth of her responsibilities.
Lacking the funds to hire more full-time help, Sister Catherine made the difficult decision to temporarily close the agency’s food pantry until she got a better hold on the agency’s other programs.
Aware of Sister Catherine’s struggles, the Greater Chicago Food Depository contacted Marillac about a new internship program made possible by a partnership with AmeriCorps and the Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundations. In September 2009, Marillac was paired with two full-time AmeriCorps interns, Whitney Allen and Jaimie Perez. With their support, Marillac was able to reopen its food pantry to its neighbors in need. Simply put, “without [the interns], we could not have a pantry,” Sister Catherine said.
Whitney and Jaimie took over every level of pantry operations, including ordering food from the Food Depository and organizing volunteers during thrice-weekly distributions. Both enrolled in Food Depository Pantry University training courses to learn more about food pantry operations. The classes caused Whitney to rethink how Marillac distributes food to clients.
“I began to think about what I would want from a pantry,” she said. By employing a choice system where clients can pick the food they take home rather than distributing pre-packaged bags, “we are empowering clients—they can feel like they are shopping.”
Staff and volunteers also made an effort to welcome each client to the pantry to help make them more comfortable. “We always have someone to greet clients,” Jaimie said. “Someone to wave them in and welcome them.”
Beyond fine-tuning distribution logistics, Whitney and Jaimie began developing new ways to expand the pantry’s offerings and improve the overall client experience.
A new, electronic intake system helps Marillac organize client data and track the needs of clients. By getting to know clients and following their history with the pantry, Whitney and Jaimie are better able to suggest additional services to help clients beyond food assistance.
Whitney and Jaimie also worked with the University of Illinois Chicago’s Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion to offer nutrition classes to pantry clients. In January, Marillac kicked off their first six-week course.
“We started with a small group” Jaimie said. “But every week, someone would bring a friend along.” The group—which soon grew to more than 10 regular participants—learned healthy cooking tips, how to read food nutritional labels and ways to stay physically fit. “We try to make nutrition accessible,” Jaimie said. “Everyone can relate and talk about their own lives.”
Marillac has made tremendous progress since its re-opening and shows no signs of slowing down. Whitney and Jaimie plan to offer a financial literacy course for clients and begin fundraising efforts for the upcoming Hunger Walk on June 26.
For Sister Catherine, Whitney and Jaimie have helped uncover the potential the pantry has to help those in need on the West Side. “We’re going to the sky,” Sister Catherine said.
-Reprinted from the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s Food for Thought publication.
