Through grant funding from AMY Wellness Foundation (AMYWF) four non-profits, Reconciliation House, Partners Aligned Toward Health, TRACTOR Food and Farms, and Dig In Community Garden, are working together to achieve food security in Yancey County. By working together, the capacity of each organization is elevated to efficiently use resources to benefit communities in need. “We realized we were all intersecting in some way or another and saw the impact we could make if we teamed up,” said John Miller, Executive Director, Reconciliation House. “From there, we worked together to identify the needs of families in the community. With this collaboration, we are serving families individual needs.” he said.
This collaborative will benefit four nutrition and food assistance programs: Summer Food Program serving families with children, Garden Share Program for low-income elders, Harvest Share Program, serving low-income families and families with diet-related health issues, and Cosecha para el Pueblo serving LatinX families.
AMYWF is incredibly excited to see these organizations working together. “These organizations have been working and growing independently for years and over time recognized the benefit of collaboration,” said Lisa Schultz, AMYWF Yancey County Board Member. “Now, their efforts are more coordinated each using their strengths to benefit the community so there is no duplication and more efficiency in providing healthy and fresh food on a consistent basis to our local community,” she said.
Through this collaboration, 450 households will have access to fresh vegetables and healthy dry goods. The Summer Food Program will feed 150 families. Garden Share, working with Meals on Wheels, will deliver 80 fresh food boxes to elders, Harvest Share will provide local fresh produce to anticipated 180 families every week from June-November and Cosecha will serve 40 LatinX families with culturally appropriate produce four times in 2021.
Together, these organizations hope to improve the health outcomes for all for families being served. “We are working together to make sure no one goes hungry in our communities,” said John Miller.
These programs kick off in June, if you or someone you know needs food assistance or is willing to volunteer, please reach out to Reconciliation House at [email protected] or 828-682-7251.