COMMUNITY PROFILE COMMUNITY PROFILE DONATE YOUR CAR! Need to get rid of your car, truck, or motorcycle? Consider donating it to Denver VOICE. Call (855) 500-7433, or go to: careasy.org/nonprofi t/denver-voice. Your donation helps Denver VOICE succeed in its mission to provide individuals experiencing homelessness or poverty the chance towards a more stable life. A VOLUNTEER WEIGHS OUT PORTIONS OF LOCALLY SOURCED PINTO BEANS AT THE ETKIN FAMILY DISTRIBUTION CENTER. CREDIT: JACOB RICHARDS The program dates back to 2013. It shut down during the pandemic in 2020 but restarted in 2023 at the 50,000-square-foot Etkin Family Distribution Center. The new facility has three industrial dehydrators with more than double the prior capacity. “From 2019-2023, we increased our locally sourced foods by weight four times,” Rodwick said. “We work with 26 local growers, three ranchers, and two food hubs,” she added. Funding for the increase came largely through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, a part of the American Rescue Plan, set to expire in late 2024. Rodwick is hopeful legislation will be passed extending the LFPACAP grants, and she is also looking at other avenues of funding. A recent pilot program between the food bank and Colorado State University explored the possibility of using the dehydrators as both a potential source of revenue for the food bank as well as a product for local growers’ leftover fruit. “We are waiting on the results of that study,” Rodwick said. Food insecurity is on the rise in Western Colorado, according to Feeding America’s most recent “Map the Meal Gap” study. Across the region, one in eight people are food insecure, and in some counties, that climbed to one in seven. The study also found that the gap between the money people have and what they would need to be food secure is the largest it has been in the past 20 years. “Food is the one budget item with the most give, and that is where people cut from,” said Rodwick. “Luckily, the pandemic helped normalize seeking food assistance.” In 2023, the Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope distributed the equivalent of 24,000 meals daily across Western Colorado, 8.5% more than the previous year. THE ETKIN FAMILY DISTRIBUTION CENTER WAREHOUSE. CREDIT: JACOB RICHARDS Western Slope mobile pantry visits are up 190% over the same period, too. “The areas in our region that are the most food insecure are the areas that subscribe to the ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ mentality,” Rodwick said. “It can be a challenge. We have to keep getting the information out there. It is okay to seek assistance.” ■ The Denver VOICE empowers homeless, impoverished, and transient individuals by creating job opportunities through our vendor program. We facilitate a dialogue addressing the roots of homelessness by telling stories of people whose lives are impacted by poverty and homelessness and to offer economic, educational, and empowerment opportunities for the impoverished community. VOLUNTEER WITH US! We are looking for volunteers to help us at community events, or to assist with paper distribution and basic offi ce administration at our offi ce (989 Santa Fe. Dr.). If you are interested and would like to know more, contact us at program@denvervoice.org. August 2024 DENVER VOICE 11
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