WALTHAM – A Waltham food pantry may be without a home unless the city steps up in the next few months.

Healthy Waltham serves 750 families currently, and more than 1,000 during the pandemic. They have been home hopping the past few years. The pantry now resides in the gym of the vacant Fitch School. They have an agreement with the city to stay there, however that ends March 31.

“The deadline is ticking, clock is ticking, and people can’t go hungry,” says Myriam Michel, Executive Director at Healthy Waltham, “We are serving fresh produce. Anything from milk, eggs, dairy, meat. We are serving families, seniors, veterans, different sets of people. Over the period of the pandemic, we have served over 3.8 million families with a total food value of over $7 million.”

So far, the city is not letting them stay past that date. The non-profit is searching for commercial land but finding out that no one wants a food pantry in their neighborhood.

“We are the bridge that provides food on people’s tables,” says Michel.

Waltham City Councilor Colleen Bradley-MacArthur is calling on her fellow councilors to step up. She says the city needs to do a better job managing their properties and helping area non-profits.

“I can’t imagine there isn’t a space to operate safely and efficiently in the city, and as leaders we should be encouraging the business community to support non-profits,” said Bradley-MacArthur. “It’s not just in one part of the city, it’s throughout the city, and as leaders in the city it is our obligation to the people we serve to make sure they don’t go hungry.”

On March 2, emergency SNAP benefits will end. This comes just a few weeks before Healthy Waltham’s deadline. The pantry expects even more people to show up during those weeks.

“We have been on calls with the Greater Boston Food Bank saying be prepared,” said Michel. Councilor Paul Katz says the city is doing more to assist Healthy Waltham than the public is aware of. We reached out to Mayor Jeannette McCarthy for more details, but she was not available.

La agencia ayuda principalmente a trabajadores de bajos ingresos e inmigrantes recientes. Alimentan a 1,000 familias cada dos semanas.

Keeping up with demand for food assistance is difficult enough but one nonprofit in Waltham, Massachusetts, is pulling double duty trying to feed families in need while also being in need of a home themselves. The organization Healthy Waltham says it’s in a difficult position as the temporary solution they’ve found is set to expire in a few weeks.

Since April of 2020, Healthy Waltham has distributed more than 1.7 million pounds of food to the community. It’s a need they say has not tapered off post-pandemic. Instead, it’s expected to grow in the coming months once emergency SNAP benefits expire. However, without a permanent home, they fear they won’t be there to help.

The nonprofit shifted to emergency food pantry services during the pandemic and still serves about 750 families.

“These are your next door neighbors,” said the organization’s executive director, Myriam Michel. “No one is walking around with, ‘I am hungry.’”

The group serves fresh, natural food at the pantry to a diverse group of individuals in the city. During the pandemic they were operating out of an area church but once they began in person activities again they needed a new space. They moved into an area at nearby Government Center but the city asked that they eventually leave the space — granting them the ability to store and distribute food from an abandoned school facility nearby. However, Michel says they only have a few months to use the space. The city is giving them until the end of March to move out.

Michel says the group is working with a realtor to try and find a viable space but is hitting road blocks there as well.

“No one wants a food pantry in their backyard. That’s quite simple,” Michel said. “And we’ve gotten resistance from neighborhoods in the city and residents.”