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According to the Hunger in America 2014 study and agency feedback, we know:
37 percent of the population we serve suffer with diabetes
62 percent have hypertension
29 percent have a member of their household in poor health
Clients are asking for more perishable foods such as dairy, fruits and vegetables
Clients are reading more food labels
To address and meet these needs, Harvesters’ Nutrition Services department offers the Healthy Program Partnership. The overall goal of the program is to help clients choose healthier food options. This program offers two partnership options – a short-term partnership and a long-term partnership.
This partnership includes specific coaching to agency partners on short-term projects such as pantry set up, environmental cues encouraging healthier choices, staff and volunteer training, healthy food procurement, and visual aids. The short-term partnership generally lasts two to three months and includes several on-site visits from Harvesters’ staff. There are three opportunities each year for an agency to participate in this program – August-October, January-March, and April-June.
This partnership is a more intensive engagement between Harvesters and a partner agency. In this partnership, a Nutrition Services staff member visits an agency on a weekly basis and works closely with all agency stakeholders, including volunteers, clients, and staff on nutrition-related services. Projects may include switching to a client choice model pantry, improving the flow and set up of the pantry, healthy food preparation, and more. The long-term partnership lasts from six to eight months. If you have questions, want to learn more about either of these programs and/or apply to participate in these programs, contact Taryn Glidewell, Harvesters' Nutrition Services Manager at 816.929.3084 or tglidewell@harvesters.org.
See what some agencies who have participated in the program have to say: “The partnership is very helpful, especially in the process of incorporating the changes; her ideas and opinions were helpful throughout the entire process.” “Staff and volunteers were very reluctant to proceed with the proposed changes. Julie was fundamental in working with each individual to get their input and ultimately their buy-in. Now that the initial changes have been in practice, it feels like the changes were natural and are a good fit for our organization.” “The partnership is wonderful. Often, without someone from outside of the organization coming in with listening and giving a new perspective, changes will never happen.” “The partnership has been very helpful in moving forward with ideas and goals we previously talked about but were not quite sure how to get it all incorporated. Sarah has been a great support partner to us and has helped us see different aspects and given us ideas to grow on.” “The partnership has provided structure as we implement change. It also has helped us validate our food program as we apply for grants.”