Staff Feedback Sparks Change to Help More Families Get Emergency Food

With budget cuts and a government closure at the federal level making access to food assistance more challenging for many people throughout our region, the Intake and Ongoing teams found a creative way to support families in our care who reported an urgent need for food. 

Working with several teams across the agency, they compiled dozens of emergency food boxes that could be shared with families connected to our agency who needed immediate help. At the same time, a partnership with our Purchasing team helped to streamline the process for accessing vouchers to help families quickly go shopping for groceries.

“These families are going through so much right now. Their life has already been uprooted,” said Family Services Director Emily Green. “Making sure families have their basic needs met was the most simple thing we can do.” 

During the federal shutdown, food benefits though the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) weren’t distributed. Roughly 1 in 8 people in Franklin County rely on the monthly help provide meals for their family.

“As food prices continued to rise and federal support diminished, households faced impossible choices,” said Franklin County Commissioner John O’Grady, noting that nearly $31 million in federal benefits didn’t go out to Franklin County families. 

The idea for the food boxes and the help with purchasing sprung from a staff meeting the Intake team had with Executive Director Chip Spinning and Ms. Green, with several caseworkers sharing how they had never seen families in need of basic groceries like they were in October and November.

Ms. Green reached out to Purchasing team lead Gloria Lo, who quickly approved several vouchers for one-time food items. Together they enlisted the help of several employees across the agency - including several members of the Executive Council - to pair up and head to the grocery store to fill the boxes. 

In total, 56 emergency boxes of food were stocked. And all 56 boxes were filled within one weekend.

Joy Xaybandith and Malik Moore from the Organizational Health Department paired up to shop and assemble eight of the boxes, using a shopping list of items based on what the Family Services team heard from families.

The experience was something Ms. Xaybandith said was a great way for her to connect with the agency’s mission to serve families. “We don’t just focus on our OHD lane,” she shared. “We care about supporting staff across divisions and, most importantly, the families we serve.” 

“I felt a huge wave of gratitude and appreciation knowing so many staff outside of Family Services division jumped in so quickly,” Ms. Xaybandith said. “It truly filled my cup and reminded me that we’re in this together —and that teamwork at FCCS is very real.” 

In addition to the emergency food boxes, the Purchasing team also streamlined the process for accessing pre-approved vouchers when social service aids or caseworkers need to go shopping for groceries with families in our care. 

This change in process was also a direct result of staff feedback, something Ms. Green encourages more of. 

“If you’re seeing a need that we’re not able to meet, even if it’s a basic need for families,” said Ms. Green, “let us know and we’ll do what we can to try to solve that.” 

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