Fighting Food Insecurity through Community Partnerships

In 2021, 11.8% of residents in Madison County faced food insecurity, according to data from Feeding America. CHI Saint Joseph Health community health program manager Jessica Hoskins is trying to change that.  

Partnering with God’s Pantry Food Bank in Lexington, community health workers in Lexington, Berea and London are able to supply patients with an emergency food box to guarantee patients and their family their next meal.  

“Our screening tool asks if patients have any urgent needs,” Hoskins said. “If a patient doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from, we provide them with a box that will feed a family of four for a day. If the patient has more than four people in their family, we provide them with two boxes. The goal is to keep them fed while we connect them with a local food pantry and benefits.”

Between July 2022 and June 2023, Hoskins said community health workers distributed 232 food boxes. Each month, God’s Pantry provides 36 boxes to community health workers to store for emergency situations as an in-kind donation to the ministry. More than 800 boxes have been distributed to patients since beginning this partnership in 2019. 

“This partnership with God’s Pantry means everything to us and our patients,” Hoskins said.

Hoskins said 993 patients requested help with food insecurity between July 2022 and July 2023, and everyone is referred to food banks and eligible services to help meet those needs. 

“We often reach out to local food banks for emergency food assistance to fill the gap for patients,” Hoskins said. “If a patient can’t go to the food bank to get their food, we’ll deliver it to them just to make sure they’re OK.”

With 12.9% of residents in Kentucky facing food insecurity, according to Feeding America, Hoskins said the need at other CHI Saint Joseph Medical Group clinics and hospitals led to the creation of Humankindness Havens, implemented across the ministry in 2021. 

“The need grew during the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation issues, so our partnership with God’s Pantry grew to provide food boxes in Humankindness Havens for hospital patients who are being discharged and need support.”

While food banks provide necessary sustenance for many patients, Anna Spurlock, a community health worker in Berea, saw another unmet need: fresh produce for diabetic patients. 

“Several diabetic patients told me they had a hard time eating food from God’s Pantry and other food banks because of the carbohydrates and added sugar,” Spurlock said. “Access to fresh fruits and vegetables is limited to off-change donations and availability at food banks. 

On a drive in Berea, Spurlock said she saw a building off Adams Street with greenhouses and raised garden beds, a place she had never noticed before. Berea Urban Farm, part of Sustainable Berea, is a 1.4-acre educational market garden that offers community supported agriculture shares of the garden in Berea, workshops, tours, beehives and bee pollinators.  

“I’ve lived in Berea for 55 years and never saw it before,” Spurlock said. “I called the office to see if I could learn more about it. Richard and Cheyenne Olson offered to donate two cooperative shares of the farm, five raised garden beds and five garden tubs for our patients to grow their own food. I was surprised and elated by their generosity.”

Spurlock divided crops from the two shares of the Berea Urban Farm garden among 10 patients and their families. The donation yielded between 100-150 pounds of fresh vegetables for patients with special diets. Three raised beds were given to families who were able to grow their own fresh vegetables, and Spurlock hopes to start a community garden at Saint Joseph Berea to help supplement the donation.