1. Residents & Services: Ending Hunger - Partnerships between Housing Authorities and Food Banks
Colleen Reinert, All Faiths Food Bank
Becky-Sue Mercer, Arcadia Housing Authority

2. Learning Objectives
Describe the impact hunger has on families living within the housing authority
Highlight examples of food bank and housing authority partnerships
Identify effective tools and resources to help end hunger

3. Arcadia Housing Authority
To provide safe, affordable housing to low-income families as they strive to improve the quality of their lives and the community.
Objectives:
Provide decent, well maintained housing, free from drugs and violent crimes
Provide and create quality housing opportunities in Desoto County
Insure equal opportunities in housing free from discrimination
Provide opportunities necessary for residents to achieve self-sufficiency and to be productive members of the community

4. ALL FAITHS FOOD BANK
Together with our partners, we provide health solutions to end hunger in our community.
Residents of Sarasota and Desoto counties

5. DeSoto County
Data, Demographics, and Need

6. Median household income: $35,165 (state average $49,426)
Population: 34,957
Number of households: 11, 238
Median household income: $35,165 (state average $49,426)
Households below ALICE threshold: 6,535 (58%)
ALICE is a United Way acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Employed being the critical word. ALICE represents those who work hard, but due to high costs and factors often beyond their control must live paycheck to paycheck. For many of them, a small emergency can quickly become a major financial crisis. Car repairs and health care emergencies, just to name a few, can plunge these working families over the edge into financial chaos. When this happens, both families and employers are hurt.
This groundbreaking report uses a modest “survival” budget to set an ALICE threshold that will help us better understand the ALICE population in Florida. Nearly 1 in 3 households make up this population. They work hard, live above the Federal Poverty Level, and still cannot consistently afford the basics of housing, food, health care, child care and transportation.
This report adds greater depth to our understanding of the people in our communities who live each day one crisis away from falling into poverty. We all depend on and meet ALICE everyday behind cash registers, fixing our cars, serving us in restaurants and stores, and caring for our young and our elderly, among many others. Despite working, often at more than one job, ALICE earns too little for a sustainable lifestyle. No matter how hard these individuals work, an ever-increasing number are not making it and their kids, your neighbors, and our communities will pay the price in the long run.

7. Economic conditions Challenges Strengths
Juvenile justice detention facility closure
Mental health facility closure
Effects of Hurricane Charlie on housing
Foreclosures
Unemployment rate: 11.5%
Graduation rate: 78%
Seasonal employment: ~2,800 migrant/seasonal agriculture workers
Strengths
South Florida State College
Walmart distribution center

8. Homeless Education Program
245 homeless students identified in academic year
High school - 65
Middle school - 57
Elementary school - 232
32 unaccompanied homeless youth
53 homeless migrant students

9. Arcadia Housing Authority Demographics
Number of Families: 128
Number of Family Member: 373
48.4% white
51.56% Black
14.06% Hispanic

10. Arcadia Housing Authority Additional Services
Salvation Army - to help with utility bills/job training
SPARCC - victim counseling
Senior Friendship - RX help for seniors
non-denomination "Week of the Family“
CNA class

11. Arcadia Housing Authority
New partnerships….
how it all began
All Faiths Food Banks
and
Arcadia Housing Authority

12. Campaign Against Summer Hunger
Started in 2014, serving 15,000 kids
,000 kids served
Goal of 34,000 kids
Why is CASH so important? The summer months mean less money from seasonal jobs and extra work and greater expenses because children aren’t getting meals in school and possibly paying for chilod care. When budgets shrink and expenses grow, families are faced with awful decsiions of what to pay for and what to skip.

13. Services Offered Backpacks Meals Mobile pantries
Sprout mobile farm market

14. Impact and Reach: BackPacks
2015: 60 kids reached, a total of 654 backpacks distributed
2016: 78 kids reached, a total of 624 backpacks distributed

15. Impact and Reach: Meals
2015: 50 children served, a total of 1,498 meals provided
2016: 45 children served, a total of 1,028 meals provided
In collaboration with Sarasota County Food and Nutrition Services, food provided by USDA

16. Impact and Reach: Mobile Pantry
2014: 9,980 families served = 391,331 lbs of food
2015: 12,367 families served = 564,210 lbs of food
2016: 5,262 individuals served with 543,400 lbs of food

17. Impact and Reach: Sprout Mobile
2014: 2,553 families served = 39,527 lbs of fresh produce
2015: 4,371 families served = 62,484 lbs of fresh produce
2016: 560 individuals served = 73,793 lbs of fresh produce

18. 2017 New Summer Initiative

19. How does all of this work?

20. Sarasota Housing Authority and AFFB
Summer camp snacks
Backpacks
Literacy program - 3 events
Two sprout mobile pantries

21. Tools & Resources Feeding America: Housing and food insecurity
Sample: Food bank and housing authority agreement
Case study: Capital Area Food Bank and City of Austin Housing Authority

22. Questions?
Colleen Reinert, MPH Strategic Program Officer Becky-Sue Mercer Executive Director