Five-year plan aims for a future where every person across Chicago and Cook County can access enough food for three meals every day
CHICAGO – The Greater Chicago Food Depository has launched an ambitious new strategic plan guided by a clear and powerful vision: Three Meals. Every Neighbor. Every Day. The five-year plan will guide the Food Depository’s work through 2030 and arrives at a time when hunger is elevated and the federal safety net – including the vital Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – is shrinking.
The plan operationalizes the Food Depository’s mission to end hunger by focusing on five strategic pillars that were defined to meet immediate demand for food assistance while addressing the root causes of poverty and food insecurity. The strategic pillars are:
- Ensure emergency food access for all in need
- Improve participation in the safety net
- Advocate for policy and systems change
- Improve access to thriving wages and economic opportunity
- Invest in people and infrastructure
“This plan is built on our fundamental belief that food is a basic human right. It wasn’t born in conference rooms. It started in parking lots and on street corners in the summer of 2020, a time of unimaginable need that defined our mission to end hunger and transformed how we approach this work,” said Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Food Depository. “Five years later, not enough has changed. We’re living in a moment that demands more from all of us.”
Currently, an estimated one in five local households experiences food insecurity while demand at local food pantries remains elevated. More than a third of Cook County households have incomes below the basic cost of living. SNAP, the United States’ most important anti-hunger tool was recently cut by $200 billion alongside devastating cuts to Medicaid and other vital safety net programs. Up to 450,000 Illinois SNAP participants could soon lose their SNAP benefits due to new federal policy changes. The Food Depository is preparing for need to increase in the months and years ahead.
“Our new strategic plan empowers us to respond to these challenges with a clear focus and greater efficiency. The challenges in front of us are massive. We will need to work harder and smarter than ever before. Our neighbors who worry where their next meal is coming from deserve nothing less,” said Maehr.
Initiatives within the strategic pillars include improvements in emergency food distribution; increased availability of prepared meals; an expanded partnership with City Colleges of Chicago to eliminate student food insecurity; partnerships that connect more eligible people to safety net programs including SNAP and WIC (The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children); advocacy at every level of government; pathways to thriving wage jobs; and more.
Creation of the plan included the voices of Chicago and Cook County neighbors who have experienced food insecurity, community partners, Food Depository staff, board members and other stakeholders.
“We developed this plan in partnership with many and we will advance this plan in partnership with many,” said Jay Shannon, chair of the Food Depository board of directors. “Success depends on collaboration, focus and growing the movement to end hunger. We know what’s possible when our community unites.”
More information about the Food Depository’s strategic plan can be found at chicagosfoodbank.org/strategy
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