Announcements

Dear Supporters, Volunteers, Funders, Partners and Clients,

We are writing to share some important and urgent news about Healthy Waltham’s ability to continue its food pantry service in the New Year. We are seeking the community’s assistance to avert an interruption or termination of our food pantry service, upon which thousands of Waltham families rely.

Since March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic took hold – causing widespread unemployment and increasing pressure on families already living close to the poverty line – Healthy Waltham has been our city’s first line of defense against hunger. We formed the Covid-19 Emergency Food Pantry to respond to the crisis and pivoted our activities to focus almost entirely on fighting food insecurity for Waltham’s underserved families. Since then, our pantries have been held twice a month or more, often serving more than a 1,000 families at a single event. Since April 2020, we estimate that we have distributed more than 3.8 million pounds of food valued at more than $7 million.

Nearly three years later, our Emergency Pantry continues.

The cessation of pandemic-era government subsidies and the drastic increases in food prices and housing costs have sadly necessitated the continuation of our work, even as the pandemic recedes. Recent figures show that we continue to serve approximately 1,000 families per event. Staff reports 50-75 new attendees at each new pantry. (Our pantry registration figures also show that more than 90% of attendees are Waltham residents, and a 2021 survey showed that two-thirds subsist on extremely low incomes and 73% reside in households headed by a single parent).

We know that the service we provide to the families of Waltham is understood and valued by many in our city. Indeed, our work has only been possible because of the support we have received from this wonderful community – from pantry volunteers and donors of funds and food to all those who have worked behind the scenes to ensure we have the space and facilities necessary to do our work–including our valued Waltham elected officials.

However, our ability to continue providing this safety net for Waltham’s most vulnerable residents is now under threat. This is because, after March 31st, we will no longer have a location to hold our Emergency Food Pantry. Since September 2021, we have operated on a temporary basis at Government Center at 119 School Street. For many months, we have been functioning in a state of uncertainty while diligently searching for a permanent home for Healthy Waltham’s food pantry storage and distribution facility. Despite several possible avenues, we have so far come up empty-handed. Thanks to Mayor McCarthy and Councilor Harris (Ward 8), we are able to continue distribution and storage at Fitch School at 14 Ash Street through the end of March at which point we must vacate the space.
If we do not find a permanent home in the interim, we may be forced into a disruption of our pantry service.

We are writing both to make you aware of this tentative situation and to ask for your support in securing a new home.
We know there is a solution that will enable us to continue providing this essential service to the residents of Waltham.

This could be the allocation of city-operated space to our organization (and potentially to other nonprofit organizations as well, allowing for fruitful collaboration) or partially subsidized private property. For the benefit of our pantry attendees, we are seeking a central location that does not require the possession of a car to access.

We know that our city can do more to help our most vulnerable neighbors. Let’s work together! Please help us with the following:

Contact the Mayor of Waltham and your local Councilor.
While Mayor McCarthy and Councilor Harris have been extraordinarily helpful, we ask that you contact them and other local elected officials. Let them know that the services that Healthy Waltham provides are critical to the wellbeing of our neighbors and that giving our organization a permanent home is a priority for you and needs a resolution. (Please see below for some template language, and use this link to find the map to identify the Councilors at large, your Councilor based on your home address, and all of their email addresses).

Template Language for Email to Elected Officials:
As a proud Waltham resident, I am troubled by the possible disruption to Waltham’s largest food pantry serving the vulnerable residents of our city. As your constituent from Ward X, I am asking that you PLEASE help Healthy Waltham find a permanent home so that they can perform the essential work of providing fresh, high-quality food to your constituents and my neighbors. I believe that Waltham’s local elected officials share a responsibility to ensure continuation of Healthy Waltham’s services, so that no member of our Waltham community goes hungry.

Help us locate space for Healthy Waltham’s food storage and distribution site.
For specifications, please contact 781-314-5647
or email us.
Thank you!

Healthy Waltham Board of Directors
(some members have recused themselves)

Myriam Michel, Executive Director