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“One reason people didn’t come to the food bank at the beginning of COVID was because they were afraid of using public transport, of having too much contact with people, and that could go on,” he said.
Key to the new system would be London’s five neighborhood resource centers, which provide support and assistance to low-income families, newcomers and the elderly, and are already running food aid programs with the food bank.
“Having access to neighborhood support is very important because when someone comes in with emergency food. . . it is easier for them to get to us (and). . . You’ll get to know our people who can help them with many other needs, ”said Jennifer Martino, general manager of the Crouch Neighborhood Resource Center, which serves the residents of Hamilton Road.
“They have access to all kinds of other social supports that can ultimately help put people away from needing access to emergency food. This is our goal for anyone who comes to this resource center.”
Martino said her center already provides food assistance to around 250 residents per month, a number that rose to around 700 at the height of the first wave of the pandemic.
Although plans to decentralize food bank services are ongoing, preliminary discussions were held as part of the city’s London Community Recover Network, led by the community, to plan the next stages of the city’s post-pandemic recovery, Cheryl Smith said . Managing director of the town hall for the neighborhood, children and fire department.
Pearson said the goal is to get the new model up and running by spring and described the move to bring groceries to the neighborhood as a “long-awaited” project.
“I think we’re finally acting on it and. . . COVID gives us the opportunity to do so, ”he said. “It makes people realize how serious it is and I think this is a good boost for all of us to do a better job in London on food security.”
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