posted Dec 28, 2011, 8:10 AM by Alex Lowe
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updated Dec 28, 2011, 8:14 AM
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Recently, Hope Center's Chet Decker was asked to appear in a video with Gleaners as they raise funds to support the great work being done here in Southeast Michigan. We are thankful for our partnership with Gleaners as they provide tremendous buying power to the funds provided to Hope Center which allows us to serve a greater amount of people in Macomb county. Thank you Gleaners!
Here is the video from Gleaners "Double your Donation Day" this month:
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posted Dec 28, 2011, 8:02 AM by Alex Lowe
Fraser, Mi – Hope Center in Macomb is proud to announce that it has distributed 2,000,000 pounds of food to Macomb County residents. Since beginning operation in June 2010, Hope Center has partnered with Gleaners Community Food Bank and Forgotten Harvest to provide perishable and non-perishable food to those in need in Macomb County.
In its nineteen months of operation, Hope Center has hosted 24,000 client visits representing nearly 65,000 people served.
Hope Center is a client choice pantry which is a best practices model of Feeding America, the nationwide food network, of which Gleaners and Forgotten Harvest are the regional affiliates. The client choice model allows Hope Center clients to select food from the supermarket style pantry as opposed to receiving a pre-packaged box of foodstuffs. Feeding America’s survey found that up to 50% of the food in a pre-packaged box would be thrown away due to food preferences or dietary restrictions, whereas, the client choice model minimizes wasted food because the client selects the food from the pantry that they know their family will eat. Thus, the client choice model is a very effective and efficient means of distributing food.
In addition, Hope Center partners with a wide-array of other non-profit service providers to house a “one-stop” shop of human services. Currently, eighteen additional services including housing services, assistance with Department of Human Services applications and free income tax preparation for low income families are offered in addition to the pantry.
Hope Center is located in Fraser at 33222 Groesbeck Highway. Appointments for a pantry visit or to access other services can be made by calling (586) 294-4673. |
posted May 11, 2011, 10:31 AM by Alex Lowe
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updated May 11, 2011, 10:37 AM
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It's hard to imagine just how great the need is for basic items such as food in our local area. Recently, the Macomb Daily published an article highlighting the need. Check out this excerpt from the article:
During the past nine years, there’s been a 254 percent increase in the number of people statewide receiving assistance for food — from 764,539 recipients in March 2002 to about 1.9 million people this March.
Data from 2001 — the year most people agree the recession in Michigan began — was not readily available online.
Oakland County has seen a 359 percent increase during the same time period, from 38,555 people getting assistance in March 2002, to 117,145 in March 2011.
In Macomb County, the increase has been the largest — 450 percent. In March 2002, only 29,308 Macomb residents were getting assistance for food. By March 2011, that number ballooned to 131,988.
The data is for the total amount of people benefiting from food assistance — for instance, a family of four is counted as four individuals receiving benefits, though only one family may be collecting the benefits for all four people."
Read that again. 132,000 residents need assistance with food in Macomb county! We're glad that Hope Center is working to end this problem in Macomb county and we want to thank you for being a part of the solution! |
posted Nov 10, 2010, 2:58 PM by Tyler Decker
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updated Dec 21, 2010, 7:19 AM
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Dorothy Jackson spent Saturday afternoon pushing a grocery cart down the aisles at the Hope Center in Fraser.
As she pushed her cart, with her daughter holding onto the side,
Jackson selected a number of groceries including canned vegetables,
bread and potatoes that were recently placed on the shelves by
volunteers from the Citizens Bank branch in St. Clair Shores, as well as those from branches in other cities... For full article, go here. |
posted Oct 26, 2010, 11:05 AM by Tyler Decker
On Monday, October 18th, the Detroit Pistons came to Hope Center to hand out food to 250 area families. |
posted Sep 22, 2010, 10:18 AM by Tyler Decker
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updated Nov 10, 2010, 3:03 PM
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There are a lot of misconceptions about hunger in our society. So How much do you know? Take this quiz, you might just be surprised! |
posted Aug 11, 2010, 1:47 PM by Tyler Decker
BY CASSANDRA SPRATLING
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A record number of Michiganders are turning to public agencies, private organizations and religious institutions for help. Those agencies are being fueled by staff and volunteer support, government funds and donations.
But as needs increase, the fuel is running low.
Calls for assistance to the United Way of Southeastern Michigan's 211 hot line are expected to top 408,000 by the end of this year, surpassing last year's record of 393,439, according to the most recent statistics from its downtown Detroit office.
"The No. 1 request is for gas bill payment, followed closely by food, and third is rent payment assistance," said Kristen Bolds, operations manager for 211.
Unemployment is the biggest driver of need, said Gerry Brisson, a vice president for Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan.
"The month of July we distributed 3.2 million pounds of food; that compares with 2.4 million pounds of food in July of 2009," Brisson said. "We're planning to see double-digit increases in need each month.
"Until jobs come back, people will be running out of resources. They have to depend more and more on emergency resources because their own resources are just not there."
Calls for aid coming 24-7
With the national economic downturn deep into its second year, and Michigan's recession stretching beyond five years, help agencies and organizations are squeezed tighter than ever.
The food pantry at St. Cyprian Catholic Church in Riverview has had to limit its service to Riverview residents, because there isn't enough food to assist people from surrounding communities. The church went from serving 12 families a week six years ago to providing food to about 70 families each week, said Sister Ann Kasparek, co-director of Christian service.
Pantry organizers often worry about running out of food. Whenever the cupboards begin to look empty, they put the word out to parishioners for help.
"It's really sad. People have lost work. They've lost benefits," Kasparek said. "We see professional people who can't find work. Riverview has traditionally been a pretty middle-class neighborhood. If it's affecting us, it's got to be affecting others."
Every area is affected
The calls are coming in steadily, all day and all night at 211, metro Detroit's leading help line.
"We have 15 call handlers during the day; we could use 25 to 30," said Kristen Bolds, operations manager for the line operated by the United Way.
Bolds said 211 expects to receive 408,000 calls this year. That's 14,561 more calls than last year's record-setting 393,439.
"Recently we had to change our voice-mail message from 'We'll call you back in 48 hours' to 'We will call you back within five to seven business days,' " said Delphia Simmons, program director for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Recovery Program at the Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS).
Often, Simmons said, those asking for help are not chronically poor; they are folks who are out of work but have established lives.
"There's a myth that welfare recipients only live in poor, urban areas," said Doug Williams, former director of the Oakland County Department of Human Services, who's now director in Wayne County. "The registration of new applicants in Oakland County exceeds that of any county outside of Wayne County. In Farmington, there was a 59% increase in the number of applicants for food assistance this year compared to last year."
Lisa Cain is executive director of God's Helping Hands, a nonprofit food pantry in Rochester Hills, where people who need food can pick up nonperishable goods Wednesdays and Thursdays.
"We're seeing more and more people every month," Cain said.
"We help anyone in southeastern Michigan, and people are coming from just about every city there is. You don't think about people living in Bloomfield Hills needing help. But there are people in every city who are struggling."
"We're seeing more and more people needing and using emergency food services," said Gerry Brisson, senior vice president of Gleaners Community Food Bank, one of the oldest food banks in the country. "Are our partners worried? Yes. I'm hearing from some partners that they're giving less, rationing to make sure everybody gets something."
A heaven-sent food pantry
At the two-year-old Fish & Loaves Community Food Pantry in Taylor, clients have the unusual option of shopping the aisles and selecting their own food -- instead of being handed prepackaged boxes and bags of food.
The pantry, which started as a collaborative effort among six Downriver churches, served a record 1,402 families in June.
"I never thought I'd be in this situation, widowed and disabled," said Shannon Meyers, 40, of Taylor. She recently shopped with her son at Fish & Loaves, following a referral from a friend. "They don't make you feel bad that you got to get food."
Clients have to make appointments to shop there and must qualify in advance based on income, number of people in the household and other factors that determine need. They also have to live in one of the six communities served by the pantry: Taylor, Allen Park, Southgate, Brownstown, Romulus and Dearborn Heights.
The pantry is open four days a week and is operated completely by volunteers.
"I like helping, paying it forward," said Rosemary Toporek, 64, of Taylor as she washed fresh fruits and vegetables with two other volunteers, sisters Molly Pohutski, 18, and Jenna Pohutski, 16, both of Trenton.
The pantry's general manager, Russ Newsome, also a volunteer, said he began working there to do something after he retired from Ford, where he was a supervisor and buyer.
"What was supposed to be a little bit of volunteering turned into a full-time job," said Newsome, 60, of Southgate. "I served in Vietnam and I worked at Ford for more than 30 years and came out with all my fingers, so it's just a way of paying it back."
Most the food comes from Gleaners, Forgotten Harvest and donations. Fresh vegetables -- tomatoes, peppers, squashes, lettuce and more -- come from a garden in back of the pantry.
"This place is heaven-sent. I don't know how I would make it if it weren't here," said Deanna Rayburn, 38, of Dearborn Heights, who's disabled and the primary caretaker for two children and her father.
"They treat you with dignity and respect, like you're one of them." |
posted Jul 22, 2010, 11:15 AM by Tyler Decker
ABC News Detroit reports that congress has now passed a bill which will allow for continued unemployment benefits for those seeking them. For the full story click here. Extended Unemployment Benefits |
posted Jul 7, 2010, 7:59 AM by Tyler Decker
On the holiday which celebrates our nation's freedom from oppression and tyranny, The Detroit Free Press ran an article about a new kind of freedom; the freedom of choice. This article is just one of many in recent days which has promoted the services of Hope Center and continues to get the word out. To read the article right from the source click here.
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posted Jun 28, 2010, 9:38 AM by Tyler Decker
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updated Jun 28, 2010, 10:29 AM
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ABC News Detroit reports that congress failed to pass a $16 Billion dollar funding bill which would go to pay unemployment wages. As of July 1st (according to ABC) 78,000 people will lose benefits with that number increasing to a massive 408,000 by the end of the year. The need for Hope Center has never been greater.
This video is the sole property of ABC news or one of its affiliates and can be viewed directly from the source here. |
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