Collaborating to Fight Food Insecurity

A bag of food, packed to help families in need access healthy meals.

One of WeGo Together for Kids’ focus areas is Stable Families, which aims to assist with housing navigation and food instability. To address food instability, we partner with Wayne Township Food Pantry, People’s Resource Center, and Neighborhood Food Pantry to increase families’ access to healthy food.

Throughout the year, we meet as a Food Access work group to discuss food concerns within West Chicago. It’s great to have expertise from different areas of the community to examine access barriers, identify trends, and brainstorm solutions. One of our current discussion points is developing a ready-to-eat hot meal option for families. Parenting is hard and sometimes people don’t have the headspace to think of what to cook for dinner. A hot meal saves a family time and gives some peace of mind.

Another example of our partnership, in action, is at ACCESS West Chicago Family Health Center. During an exam, a nurse or doctor might ask a patient if they feel safe at home, have access to food, or have symptoms of depression. These might seem like invasive questions, but they’re asked because the physician can provide additional resources. At Access, if a patient says they don’t have the ability to buy food then the clinic will give them a food box. That food box is from us. Food Pantry, People’s Resource Center, or Neighborhood Food Pantry fills the food box orders at their site and WeGo Together for Kids delivers the boxes to Access.

Our work together demonstrates how collaboration creates solutions for our community.

Our Supportive Partners: