WHO WE ARE | REV. DR. SHARON AUSTIN

/0 Comments/in /by

This is the start of a new series on the Florida Impact to End Hunger blog where we highlight our wonderful group of board members and team with a brief interview.

First up, our Board President Rev. Dr. Sharon Austin, Director of Connectional & Justice Ministries Florida United Methodist Church.

How long have you lived in Florida and what has kept you in the Sunshine State?

I am a non-native Floridian born to native Floridians. I was born and spent my childhood in New York. My parents returned to their native state and I lived in Florida until I left to attend college and seminary. I returned to Florida year later with my husband and children, when my husband received an employment opportunity. We have lived here since the mid-nineties. A few years later, I transferred my clergy orders through the Florida Conference to The United Methodist Church. I rejoice that I have some family, many friends and colleagues in Florida.

What do/did you do for a living and what life experiences do you think lead you to your field?

I received my call to ministry during my undergraduate years and this year marks my fortieth year in ministry. The years have flown by and have been filled with ministry opportunities in different denominations, states and settings. I have always loved God and had faith in Jesus Christ. My father was a pastor, and I am at least a fourth generation clergyperson. I understand the Holy Scriptures and the message of most religions to contain strong admonition against injustice. Since childhood, I have been asked to assume public speaking roles, and I have significant creativity and curiosity genes. I enjoy fact-finding and analysis. My parents persevered in times that were very restrictive for them as African-Americans, and they raised their children to persist and use their voices and take action in the face of injustice. I was a Baptist pastor initially, and served on the staff of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. I believe personality, gifts, experiences and potential are all used by God in addition to faith, in a person’s call to ministry.

When and why did you join the Florida Impact to End Hunger (FITEH) board?

I joined the board in 2016 in relation to my leadership role in The FL Conference. I followed longtime colleague, the Reverend Clarke Campbell-Evans as he concluded his board membership, following our Conference reorganization. The changes included my role on the FITEH board and transition of the annual Florida Advocacy Days event to my area of leadership.

What has been a highlight while being on the board so far?

I don’t know that there is a single highlight during my board tenure, rather I am encouraged about the times and ways that the mission of Florida Impact to End Hunger connects with the mission of The Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church and our partnership with the 11th District of The African Methodist Episcopal Church. Together we seek to serve our communities by providing nutrition to children and other at risk populations throughout our state. This reflects good news every time we can make it happen!

Any fun facts about yourself or hobbies you enjoy?

I am interested in or love to do many things such as cooking, (especially for family gatherings) reading/writing and gardening are among them. International travel and learning about other cultures has been a privilege. A fun fact about me that likely would not occur to folks, especially given my profession is that I love to dance!

FLORIDA HEALTHY RETAIL: BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER

/0 Comments/in /by

The Florida Healthy Retail project kicked off in Miami Gardens and has been achieving much success even despite the Coronavirus pandemic. What was first thought to be a supreme barrier to our project is what actually motivates us and our retailers to get support on the ground.

I travel to the stores weekly to learn about the conditions of the stores, how sales are going, and if they have any worries about closing. At the beginning of the pandemic, the store owners were hesitant to participate in Florida Healthy Retail. However, as the conditions worsened, the retailers started to recognize their role to help their community.

During the recruitment process, I shared with the shop owners my experience going to a large chain grocery store: witnessing massive food and supply shortages and shock from the community. The store owners saw Florida Healthy Retail as an opportunity to support their community during this difficult time.

From my observations, I noticed how store owners are more conscious about their customer base than a typical full-scale grocery store chain. One store owner reported that being a part of the initiative allowed him to learn more about his customers’ eating habits and food preferences. This is how they frame their orders, to match his customers needs with more onions, potatoes, and apples. It’s also inspired them to include other healthy items in their store, like granola bars and yogurts, once activity returns closer to normal. It was amazing to see this progress during such an uncertain time.

There is a common assertion that crisis can either break people apart or bring them together. We have been a vessel for improving customer-to-owner relationships in this initiative, while addressing the food environment challenges of Miami Gardens. Slowly but surely we are playing a role in bringing the community together with Florida Healthy Retail.

If you would like to help our effort, we are currently holding a Florida Healthy Retail Facebook fundraiser. We need donations to keep this project running, and any support would be much appreciated. Please click here to view the fundraising page and make a difference.

Shirbrina Jefferson

Hunger Free America Associate

LESSONS FROM THE 2020 NATIONAL ANTI-HUNGER POLICY CONFERENCE

/0 Comments/in /by

At the beginning of March, I traveled with our Chief Operating Officer Katie Williams to Washington D.C. for the annual National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference hosted by Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and Feeding America. This event was the highlight of my year so far, despite spending a significant amount of time struggling to adapt to the cold… and then being repeatedly told that it was not, in fact, “cold”.

Having attended the same conference last year, I was excited to reconnect with some of our friends and colleagues from organizations across the nation, whilst learning about their new ideas and innovations in nutrition and sharing our own experiences from here in South Florida.

Thanks to a scheduling mishap, Katie and I were able to take our conference experience to the next level by being asked to present on a panel about our work with the Summer BreakSpot Program. This was an exciting opportunity, especially due to the few hours’ notice we had to prepare!

The National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference is a great opportunity for newer advocates to learn from more experienced members of the anti-hunger community, and to network with those who have been fighting against hunger and economic injustice for many years.

At the same time, the conference allows these new advocates to have a voice and bring fresh ideas for combatting food insecurity as society continues to change and evolve.

Additionally, the conference gives us an opportunity to bring our stories and ideas straight to our elected officials on Capitol Hill. However, perhaps the only disappointing aspect of this year’s conference was the legislative priorities we were discussing with our representatives.

While a considerable amount of effort has been made over the past year to protect existing nutrition programs, there has been little progress by the government in advancing Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR). This lack of movement continues to be reflected in our federal nutrition programs falling behind the needs of our communities today.

CNR presents a great opportunity to strengthen program access and support participation by children in need. Protecting community eligibility, incorporating alternative delivery models, improving area eligibility, maintaining strict nutrition standards, and strengthening SNAP and WIC are just some of the ideas that we hope Congress will stand behind and support to eliminate hunger in our most at-risk communities.

Overall, I left this year’s conference inspired and re-energized. I have brought back new ideas, new partners, and new experiences all to advance our efforts against food insecurity throughout our local community and across the state.

Sam Hopwood

Regional Director of South Florida

Florida Impact to End Hunger

HOW YOU CAN CELEBRATE #NSBW2020 ?

/0 Comments/in /by

This week is National School Breakfast Week. Almost every day we hear about how important the first meal of the day is. Without food in the morning, our children lack the energy they need to concentrate and learn. Schools recognize this by providing breakfast at all public schools in Florida and, in the majority of school districts, breakfast is universal and free to all students. All they have to do is show up to the cafeteria before school starts and a healthy first meal of the day is provided.

Why is it then that only about half of the children that participate in the National School Free and Reduced-Price lunch program (NSLP) also participate in breakfast?

National experts who have studied this issue, including the USDA, have concluded that often it is the timing and the location of breakfast in school that is the barrier.

Florida Impact to End Hunger, along with our partners No Kid Hungry Florida, the Diary Council of Florida, and the Florida Department of Agriculture all support alternative forms of breakfast service to encourage students to start their day with good nutrition.

Alternative breakfast models include Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab N’ Go Breakfast (students can grab a breakfast bag off a cart), or Breakfast After the Bell/Second Chance Breakfast (after first period).

Many schools will encourage breakfast participation this week by special events or guests. One of the best school breakfasts I ever attended was last year in Miami Gardens when Mayor Gilbert donned a hair net and manned the serving line (pictured above) which the kids loved. I have also seen school superintendents and parents participating in school breakfast.

All of these efforts are wonderful and raise awareness, but the are other steps to produce lasting change. Students need breakfast to be convenient and consistent in order to increase participation.

If you are involved with any school, please take a look at how they are getting this important morning meal to the students and encourage the school to consider some of the alternative meal service options to expand participation.

See www.FloridaSchoolBreakfast.org for more information and help spread the word with #NSBW2020 before the week ends.

Trudy Novicki

President/CEO

Florida Impact to End Hunger

FEEDING OUR CHILDREN, FEEDING OUR FUTURE: THE DIRECT SERVICE OF A POLICY NONPROFIT

/0 Comments/in /by

Hunger doesn’t just harm the physical health of children; it affects nearly every aspect of their lives, from self-worth to academic performance to socialization.

According to the American Psychological Association, hunger is associated with anxiety and depression in children. In adolescents, hunger is associated with depressive disorders and suicidal tendencies.

The distraction of hunger also makes schoolwork more difficult. Research has shown that hungry children have lower math scores and are more likely to repeat a grade. And being hungry while others are fed can make children feel ashamed, isolated, and inferior. Hungry children have been found to have low levels of self-efficacy, which means that they don’t believe they can achieve their goals.

Hunger doesn’t need to happen.

While temporary assistance is important, long-term legislative change will be needed to solve this problem. Sure, to the average person, the services a policy nonprofit provides is a little less tangible than what a direct-service nonprofit provides, so it needs some extra explaining. (We can’t really point to facilities or backpacks full of donated food.)

What we can point to is the kid sitting in first period, well-fed and able to focus because they could participate in the School Breakfast Program which we’ve worked to expand and curated a website to compile research and data, and provide guidance for participation.

We can point to one out of the millions of nutritious meals served to Florida’s children at their local Summer BreakSpot site during a hot summer. In fact, we can point to the Summer BreakSpot campaign, an aggressive branding of the Summer Food Service Program with the (achieved, exceeded) goal of reaching more children throughout the state. Before this branding and networking was picked up by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (yay!) we even ran a direct hotline which connected hungry kids to Summer BreakSpot sites near them. (Nowadays you can just text “FoodFL” to 877-877 to find your nearest site, by the way.)

We can point to the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in December 2010 when suppers were authorized nationwide as part of the Afterschool Meals Program. This was a result of relentless advocacy from Florida Impact to End Hunger and incredible community advocates and local leaders, working with our elected members of Congress.

We can point to a project currently in the works which will bring healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables to Florida’s food deserts…more on that soon…

And so much more.

At Florida Impact to End Hunger, we’re working to help pass laws that guarantee families and their children are provided consistent meals by law — and we won’t stop until every child is fed.

Raffaela Susi

Graphic Design (and former Summer BreakSpot Hotline Operator ?)

Florida Impact to End Hunger

FLORIDA CHILDREN TOOK OVER THE CAPITOL BUILDING

/0 Comments/in /by

The hands, hung. The meetings, set. The dining sets, placed. The swag, ordered. The final practice for the performance, finished. Children’s Week had arrived.

What is Children’s Week? “Florida’s Children’s Week is an annual week-long celebration filled with joyful singing voices of young children, the colorful “Hanging of Hands”, and the dedication of thousands of child advocates across Florida.”

It truly is a special time and a very powerful one. Florida Impact to End Hunger joined the thousands of child advocates at the Florida Capitol this past January and the event speaks in numbers. Folks in Florida care about kids and it shows.

Many thanks to the staff who organize and work this event, they do an amazing job every year! You are able to enjoy a free breakfast and lunch, a storybook village with interactive reading booths, partner booths with face painting, photos booths, and free swag; not to mention an awards dinner and reception. This year, Jack Levine was honored as the award recipient who spent his career working towards child prosperity in Florida.

Feeling honored and grateful to be able to work alongside so many Floridians wanting what’s best for children in our state is an understatement.

Florida Impact to End Hunger is working hard to expand the Florida Afterschool Meals Program to Parks and Recreation centers across the state by filing Senate Bill 668 and House Bill 83. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to support our efforts so we can reach more hungry children by signing our letter of support.

Children in Florida need their advocates. Will you join the thousands?

 

Kelli Greene

Administrative Coordinator

Florida Impact to End Hunger

A PROGRAM THAT FEEDS SENIORS AND THEIR FURRY COMPANIONS

/0 Comments/in /by

Studies show pets bring a level of joy and companionship to seniors who live alone. What does this have to do with hunger-related issues the elderly face? Taking care of a pet includes feeding, grooming and veterinary care, which can be financially burdensome and physically challenging to seniors. More often than not, a devoted animal lover with limited access to food will feed their hungry pet before they feed themselves.

One of Florida Impact to End Hunger’s community partners, Meals on Wheels of South Florida, has been providing nutritious meals to seniors for 35 years. Executive Director Mark Adler explains, “The need for this type of program became apparent when our volunteers who deliver meals observed that their elderly clients were going without their full meals because they were sharing their meals with their pets.”

Acknowledging that they were on a fixed budget and many were homebound and physically unable to buy pet food, Meals on Wheels secured funding to purchase pet food from local donors and grants. Hence the beginning of the Meals for Companion Pets Program.

Once a month, free pet food is delivered to clients with a maximum of 2 pets. This is especially important to homebound seniors who have no one to shop for their pet needs. This program can keep seniors and their pets together and healthy in their own homes. Sometimes a furry friend is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Please contact Meals On Wheels South Florida at 954-731-8770 for additional information on this amazing program or visit https://www.mowsoflo.org/meals-for-companion-pets.

Post written by Sue McAllister, Regional Director of Southeast Florida, Florida Impact to End Hunger

THE COMPLICATIONS OF ELDER FOOD INSECURITY

/0 Comments/in /by

“I believe every patient needs a physician who will be an advocate to help them regain their health.” – Dr. Jenneffer Pulapaka, DPM, ACFAS, CWSP, DABMSP, FACCWS

How does food insecurity impact our elderly population? From 2001 to 2015, the number of older adults who were food insecure more than doubled to 5.4 million individuals in the United States. Food insecurity was reported to affect all aspects of their life and health, along with increasing stress and reducing coping abilities. There is “increasing evidence demonstrating that food insecurity is an important risk factor for poor health has made it virtually incontrovertible that dietary quality, not just calories, is an essential component of supporting food security”. Furthermore, food insecurity is associated with an increased risk for numerous chronic conditions, including depression, insomnia, substance abuse, diabetes mellitus type 2, obesity, hypertension, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, dyslipidemia, and chronic kidney disease.

How is this different from adults or children?

Elderly patients with multiple chronic conditions/diseases were significantly more likely to report food insecurity. For many of the food insecure elderly, there is a “stigma effect arising from welfare use” that may lead to reduced self-esteem and result in depressive moods, which exacerbates chronic diseases. “To make matters worse, food insecurity is associated with increased cost-related medication non-adherence. Because if you don’t have money for food, one probably doesn’t have money for medications. Hence, contributing to an increased burden on our healthcare system, as noted in the 2017 Rand Report.

Sadly, numerous research papers report that adults with depression have higher rates or levels of multiple chronic disease risk factors, including cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, hypertension, insomnia, substance abuse, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, physical inactivity, and systemic inflammation.

Elderly SNAP participants with very low food security have even higher odds of depression and correlated with negative self-attitudes. But, there is now research that is beginning to delve into whether reforms to the food assistance program aimed at reducing stigma can help alleviate emotional distress and increase the quality of food among the elderly welfare recipients.

With that noted, SNAP does not cause these problems, like obesity; rather, it is likely that more obese populations are enrolled in SNAP. Adults can use SNAP to one’s advantage because the 2019 study reported that very low food security and physical health outcomes were negatively significant before SNAP enrollment. But, decreased after SNAP participation, indicating that SNAP may have prevented poor physical health resulting from very low food security. So, on the positive side, SNAP is associated with a reduction in health care costs; “low-income adults who participate in SNAP incur an average of $1,400 per year less in health care expenditures compared with matched nonparticipants ” and “perceived farmers’ market access related to lower incidence of overweight/obesity in SNAP”.

Elder food insecurity is a complicated and dynamic construct involving chronic medical conditions, mental fitness, and the overall lifestyle of our communities. The takeaway is that there are ways to improve the health and wellness of our society regardless of income; through healthful foods, social support, quality sleep, physical fitness, positive emotions, and cessation of substance abuse. So, how will you uplift your community in 2020?

Dr. Jenneffer Pulapaka

Podiatric Surgeon & Wound Care Physician

DeLand Foot and Leg Center

Sources:

Aligning Programs and Policies to Support Food Security and Public Health Goals in the United States. Seligman HK, Berkowitz SA.

Annu Rev Public Health. 2019 Apr 1;40:319-337. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-044132. Epub 2018 Nov 16.

PubMed [citation]

PMID: 30444684

PMCID: PMC6784838

 

Food stamps, food insecurity, and health outcomes among elderly Americans.

Pak TY, Kim G.

Prev Med. 2020 Jan;130:105871. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105871. Epub 2019 Oct 31.

PMID:31678175

 

Predictors of Diet-Related Health Outcomes in Food-Secure and Food-Insecure Communities.

Kaiser ML, Dionne J, Carr JK.

Soc Work Public Health. 2019;34(3):214-229. doi: 10.1080/19371918.2019.1575313. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

PubMed [citation]

PMID:30767652

 

Ziliak JP, Gundersen C. The State of Senior Hunger in America 2015: An Annual Report – Supplement 2017.

Rand Report 2017: https://www.rand.org/topics/health-health-care-and-aging.html

Atypical depressive symptoms and obesity in a national sample of older adults with major depressive disorder. Chou KL, Yu KM Depress Anxiety. 2013 Jun; 30(6):574-9.

2020: A STRONG YEAR IN THE FIGHT TO #ENDHUNGER

/0 Comments/in /by

The Florida Legislature season begins Tuesday, January 14th. For most, that won’t mean much, but for Florida Impact to End Hunger, it is a BIG day. We are supporting legislation that would provide access to nutritious meals for low-income children participating in parks and recreation programs. This sounds like a simple change but advocating for legislative change is anything but simple.

With almost 3,000 bills already filed in the House, legislators must compete to even get a bill placed on a committee calendar. After a bill is drafted, it must travel through several committees before it reaches the House floor. The same thing has to happen in the Senate with a companion bill before they are brought up for a vote by the full House and Senate. With all the bills and all the legislators trying to get heard in just 60 days, one little bill—even one that would help hungry kids—can easily get lost in the shuffle.

We are happy to have strong sponsors: House Representative Duran is behind HB 83 and Senator Book is behind SB 668. Both of them are working hard to move forward. Senator Book was able to get a vote before session even started on SB 668 from its first committee! Now that the bill is moving in the Senate, Representative Duran is optimistic that his bill will be placed on a calendar. Oh my! All this and we haven’t even started session.

Last year Senator Book filed the bill, but it didn’t move out of committee early enough, despite the fact that Florida Impact to End Hunger staff and board advocated strongly in favor of the bill’s passage. But this is the year!

You can help, too. Please take a moment (I promise, only a moment) to sign on in support of the Government Sponsored Parks and Recreation Bill here: https://forms.gle/XBEQ8HDwSJ86twVB6

Let’s make this a strong year in the fight to #EndHunger.

Trudy Novicki

President/CEO

Florida Impact to End Hunger

#HB83 #SB668

HELLO, 2020: OUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

/0 Comments/in /by

2020? Are you serious? This month marks the start of my third year with Florida Impact to End Hunger, and I feel like I’m just getting started. Although my oldest son turns 10 this year and I just celebrated my 12th wedding anniversary, I can’t help but feel like time is just flying by!

As I ponder Florida Impact to End Hunger in 2020 and my role as Chief Operating Officer, I’ve come up with a few “New Year’s Resolutions:”

1. Start at least one new project in North Florida. Approximately 95% of the local work we do as an organization happens in South Florida. Our two regional directors are based there, a number of board members live there, and a good portion of our grantors and funders are located there. However, with our Administrative Coordinator, Kelli, and me up here in Tallahassee, we have started to seek out new funding to support efforts in the Big Bend – where hunger is no stranger to residents. So far, we have submitted two grant applications (and have two more pending) for school-based projects in Leon County. We are eager to get started on this work!

2. Improve online fundraising. With an increased focus on social media and a new communications plan, 2019 saw a spike in online fundraising. Still there is more to be done. Our fearless communications team is on the hunt for new opportunities and strategies to engage donors in both campaign contributions as well as reoccurring giving. Of course, Florida Impact to End Hunger will continue to increase our reach on all social media platforms.

3. Continue to present on state and national webinars and at conferences. Collectively in 2019, the Florida Impact to End Hunger staff has presented on 3 national webinars, at 2 national conferences, at 3 state conferences, and on 10 state or local webinars and/or conference calls in 2019. This kind of platform gets our name out to other organizations and solidifies us as “experts” in the field of anti-hunger advocacy. As we continue to expand our reach and create new and innovative projects, I look forward to more presentation invitations on both the state and national levels.

4. Expand the Healthy Retail Project into two new low-income communities. As one of Florida Impact to End Hunger’s newest projects, the Healthy Retail Project in Miami Gardens continues to gain momentum. With continued national attention on increasing healthy food options in low-income areas, we are confident we will get the support needed to expand this project into at least two new communities. Maybe even in North Florida!

5. Set aside 5 to 10 minutes for a walk, stretch, or workout (OK, this one’s for me). Don’t get me wrong – working from a home office has a number of benefits. However, I tend to miss the days of taking walks with my coworkers and being limited to the food I brought with me to eat each day. Nowadays I tend to do a lot more sitting, and my fridge and pantry are just in the next room! So this year I’m setting a resolution for myself to go outside, do some pushups, take a walk around the yard, just to do SOMETHING other than sit at my desk each day. We have heard plenty about the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle, but I’ve also started to realize that a walk or quick stretch can help me refocus and get back on track.

I look forward to the limitless potential of the year 2020. We’ll keep you posted on our progress! Please drop us line to share a few of yours or your organization’s own New Year’s Resolutions!

Katie Williams

Chief Operating Officer

Florida Impact to End Hunger