PEQUOT LAKES — While staying true to its mission to provide nutritious food, the Lakes Area Food Shelf in Pequot Lakes will become a community resource hub to offer social services in northern Crow Wing County.
The most exciting thing is the friends and neighbors who live in our area will have immediate access to experts in different disciplines - housing, mental health issues, transportation, Legal Aid.
As Kathy Adams, LAFS director, said: For some people looking for helpful resources, the 20-mile drive from Pequot Lakes to Brainerd “might as well be 2,000 miles.”
“The most exciting thing is the friends and neighbors who live in our area will have immediate access to experts in different disciplines — housing, mental health issues, transportation, Legal Aid,” Adams said during a busy morning at the food shelf Thursday, Jan. 26.
“This will really be an opportunity for people to start to knock down those barriers that keep them from having productive lives,” she said.
The goal will be to publish a schedule so community members know when various resource people will be at the food shelf, or at neighboring Grace United Methodist Church, where a Crow Wing County Social Services worker has already been meeting with people.
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The hope is to raise funds for a food shelf building expansion to be able to offer private conference rooms and more.
The idea to form a community resource hub came out of focus group discussions last summer where people who use the food shelf, civic and business leaders, volunteers and the faith community gathered to talk about what a strategic plan for the food shelf should look like.
Discussions opened eyes to the fact that needed social services aren’t readily available. People said their food insecurity can be due to many factors, including high housing and transportation costs, lack of access to medical care and the growth in multigenerational families.
Pequot Lakes or Emily to Brainerd is like going to the moon for some people.
Such issues can be addressed through access to social services.
“We don’t want to duplicate what other agencies are doing,” said Tim Moore, LAFS board chair. “However, we have an incredible opportunity here.”
Those involved want to offer more resources beyond food to those who need them, and in a central location — Pequot Lakes.
Moore echoed Adams’ thoughts on some people’s ability to reach those resources in Brainerd.
“Pequot Lakes or Emily to Brainerd is like going to the moon for some people,” he said.
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“We’re like a shopping mall. We’re the Dayton’s. We’re the anchor,” he said of Pequot Lakes. “They’re (food shelf patrons) here in the building. Let’s have them meet with agencies.”
Moore and Adams are happy with the response to the community resource hub.
“They’re excited about it, and mostly because of our location,” Moore said.
Adams agreed.
“These people are dedicated to making sure people get what they need,” she said, noting those who work at the food shelf know about food, but they aren’t mechanics or dentists or experts on other needs.
Other community members are reaching out too. The school is using the food shelf to help families, and doctors are sending low-income patients to the food shelf.
“A dentist showed up and said, ‘I know there are people out there who need dental work. How can I help them?’” Moore said.
“It’s all about collaboration,” he said.
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Food shelf expansion
The LAFS already partners with Grace United Methodist Church, which leases the land to the food shelf. The food shelf owns its building and is working closely with the church to finalize any expansion plans.
“The support we have received from the GUMC congregation over the years has been instrumental in our success,” Moore said.
The goal is to launch a fundraising campaign called Hunger Free & Healthy to add on to the back of the food shelf building and then rearrange to be able to offer an Americans with Disabilities Act compliant restroom, a conference room and small, private offices.
The support we have received from the GUMC congregation over the years has been instrumental in our success.
Moore said one use for a conference room would be to bring in chefs and dietitians to demonstrate how to make a healthy meal.
Computer stations and printers would be available to help people apply for certain benefits or jobs. Phone charging stations would allow them to charge cellphones.
Food shelf leaders hope the expansion occurs this summer.
The LAFS has already secured two grants. The Blandin Foundation approved a $90,000 Leadership Boost Grant, and the Hunt Family Fund pledged $75,000 as a matching grant.
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The LAFS will designate money from its reserve funds as well.
To donate to Hunger Free & Healthy, send a check to: Hunger Free & Healthy Campaign, Lakes Area Food Shelf, P.O. Box 423, Pequot Lakes, MN 56472.
Or visit https://lakesareafoodshelf.org/donate .
All donations are tax deductible.
More people seek help
The food shelf served 4,657 individuals in 2021. That number skyrocketed to 10,978 individuals in 2022.
Those involved at the food shelf anticipate the increasing numbers of people using the resource will only continue as additional resources offered to people during the COVID-19 pandemic have waned while the cost of food, gas and other goods continues to rise.
We can’t fix these problems, but we can be a hub.
Moore said the food shelf is seeing more of the working poor - families with two full-time jobs but Mom moves in with them, or grandparents living on Social Security are now raising grandchildren.
“We can’t fix these problems, but we can be a hub,” Moore said, introducing people to helpful agencies and helping them navigate the systems.
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He said Adams is the driving force behind the community resource hub.
“She talks to everyone and hears their stories,” Moore said, while also gaining people’s trust.
Hours
The Lakes Area Food Shelf is open from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays.
The food shelf is on Patriot Avenue, just south of Grace United Methodist Church.
Nancy Vogt, editor, may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Nancy.
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