Progress 11/01/23 to 10/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:La Colaborativa's target and service population has been and continues to be the low income and immigrant communities of Chelsea and surrounding cities of Everett, Revere, and East Boston, where some of the highest levels of food insecurity in Massachusetts have been recorded. According to the 2024 statewide collaborative study from The Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Bringham, 1.9 million adults in Massachusetts are food insecure, an increase from last year's estimated 1.8 million adults. With exorbitant costs of living, increased grocery prices and the end of pandemic-era support in 2023, 1 in 3 Massachusetts adults reported household food insecurity. Food insecurity is closely linked to cardiometabolic diseases--including hypertension and diabetes--which are major contributors to premature mortality and reduced life expectancy across the Commonwealth. Lack of access to healthy, nutritious food continues to disproportionately impact our communities of color and other traditionally marginalized groups. Changes/Problems:Demand for food: New arriving families from Colombia, Venezuela, and Haiti are now using the pantry on a regular basis to get access to food and basic necessities. This increase of clients puts pressure on our supply of food, forcing our food rescue initiative to intensify in order to ensure enough food every single week when food purchases are insufficient. Additionally, we have expanded our food access programs and increased our distribution days from 2 to 5 times a week. During this quarter, we revisited partners and made new partnerships with wholesalers at the produce center. Since a sizable number of residents are unable to access the pantry during weekday hours, due to work and familial commitments, La Colaborativa is increasingly receiving requests to operate on the weekends. Due to insufficient funding, this is not feasible at this time, but La Colaborativa is committed to expanding operations if additional resources become available. Home delivery requests: Home deliveries continue to be a high priority service for homebound individuals experiencing chronic illness or limited physical mobility. This service is time and resource intensive and our vehicles limit space to service more individuals needing food delivered to their homes. Due to this, delivery services prioritize residents of Chelsea. With additional funds available, we will be able to serve more individuals, acquire new equipment and expand services to surrounding communities. Extreme weather conditions: The weather is a top concern especially during these winter months to ensure equitable access to food for all clients. We continue to look for ways to make working conditions and time that those are waiting in line more tolerable as we work through the winter months. As we transition into the new building, we are in the planning stages of El Mercado Initiative, which will be an indoor distribution space that prioritizes those who are most vulnerable in our community. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Outreach for food resources is integrated into everything La Colaborativa does in the community, and we feel that our target community members (historically marginalized communities) are well informed about resources they can access at La Colaborativa. This is evidenced by the long lines sometimes reaching more than 1,000 people a day who come out for our distributions. Outreach activities will now expand to other neighborhoods of Chelsea and surrounding communities thanks to our Mobile Market initiative. All outreach is done in Spanish as well as English. Facebook outreach has proven to be one of our best strategies for reaching our community, having Gladys Vega or Juan Camillo Saavedra go on Facebook Live to let our members know when food distributions for the day are happening, what foods are available, and other information about what is happening in the community. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Food Access Program - The Market/"El Mercado": El Mercado will be an indoor grocery style food pantry that will increase access to food for the most vulnerable residents in Chelsea who continually express having difficulties waiting in line for food: elderly, pregnant people, and people with disabilities. This program is opening as a crucial step in La Colaborativa's work to support food security in our community as the need for our services continues to grow. It will be located inside our new warehouse space, the market will simulate a retail shopping experience. Shelves will be stocked with locally grown fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs, milk, bread, and meats, and prepared meals, all of which will be completely free. The Market will be open from Tuesday to Friday, and will increase the hours of access to food to the community. We have received the majority of the equipment and will begin assembling and setting up the space in July, 2024. Youth Food Security Education and Production Program - Freight Farm:La Colaborativa will install and operate the first containerized urban farming unit in Chelsea. Harnessing the power of technology, the unit will cultivate up to 12,000 pounds of fresh produce for the community each year. Distributed through its large-scale food pantry, fresh vegetables from the freight farm will help residents access healthier emergency food products all year long, improving physical and mental health, which are a vital lifeline as rent, utility, and household costs sharply grow. This initiative introduces a multifaceted program aimed at empowering and employing youth to operate the freight farm, cultivate skills and pursue career ambitions related to food security, urban agriculture, and community resilience. In parallel, youth will be connected to career opportunities that can positively impact the community. Youth contributing to the freight farm will be supported through robust mentorship and leadership development activities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Food and Nutrition Department continued to provide equitable food access and nutrition services while also expanding to integrate new programs committed to a more holistic approach to combating food and nutrition insecurity.La Colaborativa continues to identify underserved residents, namely households unable to afford food as well as families and individuals interested in gaining knowledge about how healthy diets and nutrition can help with prevention of chronic illness, like diabetes, obesity, liver and kidney disease, cancer, and hypertension. The demographic profile of clients continues to be 80-85% from Latin American/Hispanic/Latino/Central American and 15-20% from the middle east, eastern Europe, south-east Asia, Africa. The following overview of activities during the last quarter is presented and categorized by program. Food Access Program - Food Pantry: Our food pantry continues to provide healthy, nutritious, culturally preferred foods to our clients twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. It operates as a no questions-ask and client-choice food pantry to ensure dignity during service and reduce food waste. Each distribution day community members receive an average of 45 pounds of food that includes fruits, vegetables, cereals, grains, legumes, meats, dairy, and culturally recognized food items like Maseca Corn flour, plantains, and yuca. Facebook live, word of mouth communication between people, and door knocking community health workers continue to be our most effective ways of promoting our program. Regularly, La Colaborativa performs neighborhood outreach in Chelsea to increase awareness of this centralized resource. The expansion of our warehouse space has improved our capacity to store food and better manage inventory. The demand for food is still high and growing as we continue to see new individuals in our distribution lines weekly. During the last period, we provided access to healthy foods at no cost to more than 5100 households and 20,400 residents, distributing an average of 39,000 pounds of food a week. Food Access Program - Home Deliveries: We have continued to provide weekly home delivery services to approximately 35 households who are homebound due to COVID 19 or chronic illnesses limiting their physical capabilities and mobility. This service ensures that the most vulnerable community members do not go without nutritious food. Every food box delivered includes cereals, juice, milk, legumes, rice, beans, fruits, vegetables, and other non-meat proteins. We rely on the Greater Boston Food Banks's Meal Box Program for this service, scheduling pallet pick ups twice or three times a week. We continue to limit this service to Chelsea due to capacity limitations. With additional funding to cover staff and gas, we could potentially increase the service days and serve clients needing food in surrounding cities. The majority of the clients needing and requesting this service are seniors who, in most cases, live alone or with another family member. During the last quarter, we delivered food to 450 clients. Food Access Program - Mobile Market/"El Verdulero": On June 13 we launched "El Verdulero," a brand new refrigerated market on wheels, has swiftly delivered nutritious, culturally familiar foods to areas with scant food access, limited grocery stores, and high rates of underlying health conditions in Chelsea, Everett, Revere, and East Boston. Since the start of this new food access initiative, we have scheduled three new distribution days, increasing food access in our service region to 5 times a week. With the sound of salsa, merengue, and bachata, El Verdulero has already become an exciting weekly event that spreads joy and health in the community. The monthly schedule and distribution locations will target areas with significant rates of food insecurity and housing insecurity, like senior centers or low income housing apartments. During this period, we visited the Scrivano Apartments (Chelsea), Basset Square (Chelsea), Voke Park (Chelsea), Margolis Apartments (Chelsea), and Liberty Plaza (East Boston). In July, we will schedule food distributions in Everett and Revere. In August, we served 620 households. Health and Nutrition Program - Healthy Cooking Classes: La Colaborativa's new learning kitchen is now hosting weekly healthy cooking classes. The objective is to provide information and knowledge to seniors, adults, youth, and families on how to cook foods and products that are new to them and are available at the pantry to enhance the quality of dietary intake and change behavior around cooking. This last quarter, our Nutrition Education team equipped the space, created recipes, designed the curriculum and taught eleven classes to approximately 150 individuals. Our program emphasizes recipes that are low cost, nutritionally balanced, and delicious. We have established partnerships with the Chelsea High School to integrate nutrition education into their curriculum in September, with the Chelsea Senior Center to provide cooking classes for residents, and Stop and Compare to source foods and create strategies to nudge shoppers to choose healthier options when shopping. Classes are dynamic, hands-on, ensuring spaces for community engagement, reflection, and socialization. We promote the classes on social media and through weekly community outreach with health promoters who share flyers and information around the community. Health and Nutrition Program - Nutrition Education: Since the opening of our community learning kitchen in March 2024, we have seeked strategic partnerships to integrate into our Health and Nutrition Program. We partnered with UMass Nutrition Education Program to provide nutrition education and obesity prevention programs to children, youth, and families participating in or eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Through this partnership we succesfully completed our first 4 week nutrition nutrition education workshop for a cohort of 13 adults with a graduation rate of 100%. The curriculum integrated educational modules from three certified nutrition education workshops: 1) Around the Table: Nourishing Families, 2) Home Cooking Without a Kitchen, 3) UMass UNEP's own Choices: Steps Toward Health. Classes were taught by Dietitian Tracie Gillespie, MPH, Nutrition Educator from UMass and interpreted to Spanish by La Colaborativa's own Health and Nutrition Promoter. Post-workshop surveys revealed that participants gained knowledge on how to identify and prepare healthy meals within a limited budget and how active lifestyles affect their physical and emotional wellbeing. Food Loss and Waste Reduction - Food Rescue: Food rescue operations have become a crucial strategy to source our existing and new food access programs. During the last 12 months, we have rescued over 5 million pounds of food that were destined to end up in the municipal landfill. Over the last quarter, the food pantry has experienced a significant increase in demand during weekday hours. As a result, we've sought to increase the volume of fruits, vegetables, proteins, and dry goods through food rescue operations, combined with our continued partnership with Greater Boston Food Bank and purchasing food products from local Chelsea companies. We have maintained, built, and strengthened over 30 partnerships with supermarkets, farms, food banks, businesses, and wholesalers. Food Loss and Waste Reduction Program - Composting: We partnered with CERO Co-op, a minority owned composting organization who transforms food scraps into compost, gas, or animal feed. With a group of more than 40 community volunteers, we inspect, categorize, and sort rescued food every week.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
1) Mobile Market: Decrease inequities in food access and make nutritious and culturally preferred food available at no cost to families and individuals in need.
- Launched a new mobile market program to reach new communities needing food assistance
- 6 distributions a week, 6 new sites (Chelsea, Revere, East Boston, Everett)
- 500 beneficiaries a week
2) Learning Kitchen: Provide nutrition education knowledge and skills for healthier eating to individuals and families experiencing chronic illness and nutrition insecurity.
- 8 different classes offered for seniors, adults, youth
- 3 partners: Chelsea High School, UMass Nutrition Education Program, Mass General Bringham
- 3 classes per week of 10 to 15 students per class
|
Progress 11/01/22 to 10/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Latinx immigrants in Chelsea, Everett, Revere, and East Boston (Massachusetts) Changes/Problems:Construction delays. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We collaborated with thirteen youths from the community who volunteered at the food pantry during the summer. This collaboration was very beneficial to build intergenerational solidarity and strengthen the transmission of knowledge of traditional recipes and foods. Youth learned how to interact with neighbors and community members from different age groups and backgrounds. Through focus group discussions, participants identified that younger generations did not know how to cook foods that were tied to their cultural heritage. We also partnered with the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project to share information about opportunities for people interested in starting a farming business. During these informative sessions, participants learned about the pros and cons of farming in New England and about the resources available to them through NESFP. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Most beneficiaries of the food pantry learn about our services through word of mouth from existing users in the community, friends and families and other community organizations and government agencies that refer them to the food pantry. La Colaborativa continues to raise awareness through consistent community outreach in person, via events, local media and using social media channels. Our food and nutrition services are promoted at these in-person and virtual events. On September 30th, we hosted a "Block Party" for the community, inviting everyone to tour our new facility and learn about upcoming programs and services. La Colaborativa has 16,000 followers on FaceBook, making this channel our key marketing and recruitment tool to effectively reach thousands of residents in our target population with daily announcements informing them of the type of foods that will be distributed and the services available to them. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to increase food access in neighborhoods of Chelsea that are located far away from the pop up pantry by using a new mobile market truck. The mobile market truck will be able transport fruits, vegetables, and dry goods in a refrigerated box. This will be a biweekly service that will serve these food insecure neighborhoods. Many residents of Chelsea do not have access to transportation and are obligated to walk to reach stores and services. In reaction to this reality, La Colaborativa will target these areas. The Mobile Market is projected to be inaugurated in May 2024. With the opening of the new learning kitchen, we will be able to provide consistent nutrition counseling services that will aim to support patients to set priorities, establish goals, and create individualized action plans which acknowledge and foster responsibility for self-care. Nutrition counseling is a two-way interaction between a patient and their nutritionist or dietitian. Under the guidance of a registered dietitian, patients will learn how to interpret the results of their nutritional assessment and how to incorporate a variety of well-balanced nutrients into healthy, economical, and flavorful meals and snacks. The new learning kitchen will be an ideal space where patients and community members will also receive nutrition education, cooking demonstrations (pre-recorded and live sessions) and social support to make healthy eating changes. The kitchen will host and teach cooking skills to improve general health and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and cardiac events. These classes will be led by registered dietitians, expert guests, and community members will help other community members maintain a healthier lifestyle, maximize food budgets, and utilize available food resources in Chelsea.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Increase food security and reduce hunger in the low-income, Latinx, and immigrant communities in the North Greater Boston region (communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic). La Colaborativa's food pantry and food delivery services provided access to vegetables, fruits, grains, cereals, legumes, nuts, dairy, meat, and non-meat proteins to more than 6000 people every week. The food pantry operates as a "no questions asked", client-choice, pop-up pantry that welcomes all two times a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. Residents who are homebound due to COVID 19 or who are suffering from medical conditions that limit their mobility will have access to food delivered to their homes. Food will arrive in boxes and will contain a mix of vegetables, fruits, cereals, cans, and grains. We deliver 30 to 40 food boxes every week. Goal 2: Expand and enhance connections throughout the region's food system to build sustainable collaboration that is mutually beneficial and build on national trends in food security and innovative, effective food systems. This year we partnered with two local farms who provided our food pantry with locally grown organic food: Gaining Ground located in Concord, Massachusetts, and Aurelia's Garden in Wayland, Massachusetts. Thanks to these collaborations, the diversity of foods available to pantry users increased exponentially and the percentage of locally grown food at our pantry increased to 20%. To build effective food systems our program aims to shorten the supply chain as much as possible. These partnerships also opened up educational opportunities for community members who volunteer at our food pantry. During the growing season, we organized a site visit to one of the farms so that volunteers could learn more about farming in New England. We have intensified our efforts in rescuing food around the Chelsea area. Using our refrigerated truck, we are able to rescue more than 15,000 pounds of food every week. We rescue food at the nearby produce center, supermarkets (Costco and StarMarket), wholesalers (Baldor, Di Silva Fruits, Yell-O-Glow, Peter Condakes, Holden Produce), the Greater Boston Food Bank, and other food rescue organizations like Area Gleaners. We are committed to reducing food waste in our area and making sure that those in need find good food. This year, we also partnered with UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program to provide workshops, demonstrations, and classes about nutrition and health. To ensure that the material is appropriate for the demographics that we serve, we meet twice a month to brainstorm ideas and models based on the feedback from participants and pantry users. Goal 3: Build permanent infrastructure and capacity to sustain La Colaborativa's Chelsea Survival Center long-term in direct response to evolving community assets and challenges. La Colaborativa's Survival Center will be a centralized location that connects all departments: economic development, housing, immigration, consumer protection, commercial kitchen, food pantry, and learning kitchen. This centralized location will facilitate access to the different resources needed in the community. There is a warehouse space that will be transformed into a market style pantry exclusively dedicated to the most vulnerable individuals.
Publications
|