Society of St. Vincent de Paul expands community access to emergency food through local partnerships
Juli Oberlander • September 30, 2021
Society of St. Vincent de Paul expands community access to emergency food through local partnerships
Photos from Gillian Cromwell and Society of St. Vincent de Paul Facebook page
Among the many effects of COVID-19, hunger has been one of the most prevalent.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 42 million people may experience food insecurity, including a potential 13 million children, according to Feeding America. Gillian Cromwell, pantry manager and garden project coordinator for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at Holy Family, says the pandemic has affected people who have never experienced hunger before.
"The pandemic has upended life as we knew it," Cromwell says. "For some, that meant working from home and masking up in public. For others, it meant grappling with unemployment and the burden of food insecurity for the first time."
In her work, Cromwell says she has seen how the pandemic has revealed cracks within the local food sector. Like many local nonprofits, Society of St. Vincent de Paul Omaha (SVdP) has worked hard to fight food insecurity by partnering with other organizations to provide food assistance.
Lori Tatreau, assistant director of Society of St Vincent de Paul, says the nonprofit is committed to helping people achieve their basic needs, such as food, clothing and shelter.
"The Omaha Society of St. Vincent de Paul focuses on serving our neighbors in need by building relationships, making connections, and ensuring material needs are met," she says. "One of the ways we do this is through works that bolster access to food for all."
Tatreau says Society of St. Vincent de Paul offers many programs to help people deal with the effects of COVID-19. The nonprofit's food-related programs include the Food Pantry, which provides food to any Omahan who needs it, and the Pantry Garden, which supplies the pantry with produce grown onsite by the all-volunteer Garden Angels. SVdP also offers the Sack Lunch Program, which distributes lunches Monday through Friday and provides live music weekly on the churchyard lawn.
Along with the Sack Lunch Program, SVdP provides street outreach, sending lunches to a number of satellite locations, and sets aside space for people to grow their own produce in the churchyard garden. Additionally, SVdP gives Omahans the opportunity to harvest apples, pears and cherries at the Giving Grove fruit tree orchard, and the Giving Gardens Project allows home gardeners to donate their excess bounty to local pantries.
"We also support collaborative efforts by participating in networks like Soil to Sustenance, Share Our Table and the Community Fridge Network," Tatreau says. "Many of our parish conferences operate small food pantries, as well."
While COVID-19 has worsened circumstances for people already facing food insecurity, Cromwell says SVdP has provided resources to help alleviate the problem.
"At the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, we have taken steps to increase access to emergency food through our partnership with Support Your Neighbor COVID-19, a service that delivers pantry food to individuals at high risk of falling seriously ill from the virus," Cromwell says. "We also recognize the importance of local food security and have asked gardeners to participate in the Giving Gardens Project, sending their excess bounty from their home gardens to food pantries in our community. Finally, our capacity-building work with the Soil to Sustenance collaborative has enabled us to think outside of the box to fight for justice in our food system."
In addition to the nonprofit's food justice work, Society of St. Vincent de Paul offers the Closet Door, which supplies free clothing, and operates five thrift stores that provide low cost goods with dignity, furniture vouchers and disaster relief aid to Omahans in need. Along with those programs, the staff run a help line to assist people over the phone by providing emergency rent and utility assistance and preventing evictions and shut offs. The team also supports SVdP's parish conferences where Vincentian volunteers conduct home visits to assess need and provide rent, utilities and furniture assistance.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Cromwell says the effects on the Omaha community have been widespread. She looks forward to a time of recovery and restoration.
"COVID has not only deepened existing inequalities, but it has also exposed the fragility of our food system," she says. "Seemingly the only silver lining of this crisis has been that we were granted an opportunity to envision what life could and should be like when we return to normal."
To learn more about Society of St. Vincent de Paul Omaha, visit their website
and Facebook page.
Lincoln Public Schools launches Friends Breakfast Together program, promotes nutrition education through community partnerships
Stephanie Finklea cultivates new growth with Black Chick Farm
Heath Snodgrass operates O & W Dairy as fifth-generation farmer
Nebraska Farm to School program connects students and producers, provides schools with hands-on educational opportunities
Omaha Sunflower Cooperative spreads seeds of change, creates new opportunities for BIPOC farmers
Walk to Unlock Nebraska provides educational opportunities for K-8 students through virtual trail marker system
Long Walk Farm increases agricultural presence, shares local food at Aksarben Village Farmers Market
Long Walk Farm increases agricultural presence, shares local food at Aksarben Village Farmers Market
Food Day Nonprofit of the Year nominee Omaha Permaculture purchases headquarters property, expands sustainability programming
No More Empty Pots offers Community Harvest food service benefiting producers and families
Nebraska Extension Nutrition Education Program provides resources that help community members access local, healthy food