Worcester Nonprofits Receive $6,500 Grants to Expand Hunger Relief

WORCESTER, Mass. – Food insecurity rose drastically during the pandemic and has yet to decline to pre-pandemic rates as 1 in 6 households and 1 in 5 households with children across the Commonwealth struggle with having enough to eat, disproportionately impacting BIPOC families. Community-based organizations, like Thrive Support & Advocacy and Dismas House of Massachusetts, have been a critical and steadfast resource, providing a wide variety of food access points for residents. To further local hunger relief efforts in Worcester, the nonprofits have received a $6,500 project-based grant from Project Bread.

Thrive Support & Advocacy and Dismas House of Massachusetts are two of 28 nonprofits to receive unrestricted funds from Project Bread, a statewide anti-hunger organization. Since 2021, Project Bread has granted over $680,000 to nonprofits to support communities hit hardest by COVID-19 and ongoing economic challenges, including Brockton, East Boston, Everett, Fitchburg, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lynn, Lowell, Malden, Mattapan, New Bedford Quincy, Randolph and Worcester. This fall, Project Bread launched the Pathways to Change grant, distributing an additional $58,500 to Thrive, Dismas House and 7 other nonprofits in the same communities to recognize and support their work to address food insecurity and the underlying economic and racial inequities that contribute to it.

With this project-based funding, Project Bread aims to support the creation of spaces for community conversations and engagement around food access that will strengthen relationships between individuals and food programs, support collaboration, and achieve positive social change. The funds can be used to pay for community facilitators, art supplies, compensation for conversation participants, and other activity-related expenses.

“Connecting people with sustainable solutions not only brings immediate relief, it also provides agency and empowers people in the long term. We know that solutions must come from the people closest to the problem,” says Adriana Mendes-Sheldon, Director of Community Partnerships at Project Bread. “We continue to learn from and invest in our community partners because of their strength in creating local, sustainable solutions. Supporting our community partners, like Thrive and Dismas House, is one of our key strategies for ending hunger statewide.”

In Worcester, Thrive Support & Advocacy is developing a holistic support center where individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families can get the services they need, and the Pathways to Change grant funds will support activities around its Specialized Food Pantry, which has offerings for those with food sensitivities and allergies. Thrive already had access to over 700 individuals who have a disability and may be food insecure, and they have partnered with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to support the community. Aiming to reduce barriers to access, Thrive will also be offering cooking demonstrations, nutrition education, special diet management information, community workshops and non-food essential item provisions.

“We are so grateful for this funding from Project Bread, which will enable us to fulfill our vision of helping feed individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are experiencing food insecurity across the Worcester region,” said Sean Rose, President & CEO of Thrive Support and Advocacy. “Project Bread makes a critical difference in the lives of so many Massachusetts residents. We thank them for their commitment and dedication.”

Dismas House of Massachusetts is using grant funds to advance their Dismas Organizing Initiative, utilizing a survey tool to evaluate hunger and what specifically homeless and former offenders would like to see in a food system in greater Worcester. They will also be using this outreach to educate the community on existing resources and distribute results to partners, including local food pantries. They hope to collect 800 respondents from across the region through paper and online surveying.

“We hope that this survey, led by our organizers who are from the communities where we work, will give us insight into what resources and access looks like from the grassroots,” shares Dave McMahon, Co-Executive Director at Dismas House of Massachusetts. “This survey tool will serve as the beginning of a dialogue from a constituent-driven perspective on hunger in our communities. This, in turn, will allow us to fine tune our community response by taking constituent perspective as the starting point for change.”

Since before the pandemic, Project Bread has been leading Massachusetts’ response to an ongoing hunger crisis that affects thousands of residents statewide, such as supporting school and community meal sites and running the Commonwealth’s only statewide hotline that connects residents with a range of food resources, from SNAP assistance to information on food pantry hours and locations. The nonprofit works closely with legislators and other elected officials as well as in partnership with government agencies, including the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Transitional Assistance, to increase access to and participation in federal nutrition programs, such as SNAP and free school meals.

People experiencing food insecurity should call Project Bread’s toll-free FoodSource Hotline (1-800-645-8333), which provides confidential assistance to connect with food resources, including SNAP benefits, in 180 languages and for the hearing impaired. For more information, visit: www.projectbread.org/get-help.

About Thrive Support & Advocacy

Thrive Support & Advocacy empowers youth and adults with developmental disabilities, and their families, to lead rich, active, and self-directed lives. Thrive celebrates and nurtures the abilities of people with developmental disabilities in Central Massachusetts, MetroWest, and beyond. We design services to empower participants and their families and to foster inclusion, interdependence, and self-expression. Our supports build upon individual strengths and preferences with the goal that each person will live in our community as a productive, participating member. For more information, visit www.icanthrive.org.

About Dismas House of Massachusetts

The mission of Dismas is the reconciliation of former offenders and society through the creation of supportive communities. For more information, visit www.dismasisfamily.org.

About Project Bread

Project Bread is the leading statewide anti-hunger organization in Massachusetts. Beginning in 1969 with the first Walk for Hunger, the nonprofit focuses on driving systemic change to ensure people of all ages have reliable access to healthy food. Project Bread works collaboratively across sectors to create innovative solutions to end hunger and improve lives across the Commonwealth. For more information, visit: www.projectbread.org.

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