Community Resource for Stability Department Spotlight
Over the year, the team impacted our community through the following efforts:
Provided healthy, balanced food to more than 4,271 households, impacting 11,071 individuals, through the Weinberg Food Pantry.
Provided healthy balanced food to over 4,718 households, impacting 10,378 individuals, through the Mobile Food and Hygiene Pantry.
Served 4,591 meals and provided 200 children with backpacks/school supplies through the Lunchbox Express summer program.
Provided more than 16,000 Thanksgiving meals to 331 households, impacting 769 individuals.
Provided emergency housing assistance to 170 households, impacting over 434 individuals.
Mobilized 700 volunteers who provided 22,560 hours of service across all JFS programs, including working in the food pantry, sorting, packing, and delivering food.
This month, we’re excited to spotlight our Community Resources for Stability (CRS) department. We sat down with JFS Director of Community Resources of Stability Elizabeth Lawrence to learn about this remarkable team and their work throughout JFS and our communities.
Q: Tell us about your program.
EL: CRS supports community members in crisis while promoting long-term self-sufficiency and preventing homelessness. Our team provides individuals and families in crisis with food, limited emergency financial assistance, care management, benefit navigation, and information and referrals.
Q: What impact does your program make?
EL: In the last year, CRS answered the high need in the community, serving 9,611 households and impacting 26,700 individuals. The team provided more than $800,000 in housing assistance to 170 households. JFS food security programs also saw record-breaking traffic, providing over 911,811 pounds of food to 9,441 households over the year. JFS food programs welcomed unprecedented numbers of new arrivals this year, with nearly 2,000 new households visiting the Weinberg Food Pantry and the Mobile Food and Hygiene Pantry to get healthy, nutritious food.
Q: What is the team working on now?
EL: Together, CRS teams are working to adapt to challenges posed by a significant demand for our programs’ financial, food, and case management support.
The food security teams are working together to adapt operations and food sourcing to meet a constantly growing demand from our community. In the last year alone, the team has adapted the intake process, added new benefit navigation support to link clients to SNAP benefits, and increased the amount of fresh produce and meat we provide.
Both our rapid re-housing and homeless prevention housing teams have responded to challenges similar to those of our food teams as they continue to grapple with a demand for support from community members in need that exceeds our available resources.
The Central Intake team continues to develop tools and resources to provide navigation support for calls and visitors who need it. Each day, the team of two responds to more than 100 inquiries, ranging from housing assistance to utility assistance, Jewish life, mental health support, support for new arrivals, and more.