Indian River County

Q1. Does it make sense to fight hunger and not also fight poverty at the same time?

No; An immediate food crisis can be met easily with a free meal or a free box of food, but to address the long term issue of hunger successfully you must go beyond filling the stomach.  Harvest Food & Outreach Center does provide free emergency food to families in crisis but goes beyond by providing counseling and educational programs that address the pervasive challenge of poverty itself.  Until a family has the tools to lift themselves out of poverty, they will continue to face the ever-present and debilitating threat of hunger.

Q2. A mother is battered, living in a car, has two kids and no money… Where do they go for help?

Harvest Food & Outreach Center. When an individual or family finds themselves in a crisis situation, there is seldom a single source for the solution.  The Harvest Food & Outreach Center Crisis Center acts as the hub of a wheel of support services from throughout Indian River County, acting much like a triage.  Our Crisis Counselors go through an in-depth intake process with every client to determine which available services will best meet their immediate and long term needs.  Active referrals are made when the Counselor calls the appropriate agencies and secures the resource for the client. Harvest Food & Outreach Center is not a website or an 800 number; Harvest Food & Outreach Center is a direct service provider for those in crisis.

Q3. What is the difference between a hand up and a hand out?

When someone in poverty is given a “hand out” it only meets their most immediate needs and fosters their continued dependence on charity.  Harvest Food & Outreach Center provides them with the “hand up” of partnership as we support their dignity, initiate resourcefulness, and foster their desire to better their situation through our Cost Share Grocery, Passport to Prosperity education program, and opportunities to learn job skills through Service Work on our campus.

Q4. A family is in total despair and hopeless, who can give them immediate help?

Harvest Food &  Outreach Center houses the county’s ACCESS program administered by the Department of Children & Families. ACCESS provides families in poverty with benefits such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary Cash Assistance. These benefits provide impoverished families with the resources they need for basic survival. Harvest Food &  Outreach Center provides emergency assistance to these families who may have to wait 3-30 days to receive help from the Department of Children & Families. Families who qualify for these benefits are given the opportunity through Harvest Food & Outreach Center to enroll in crisis counseling, educational training and on-the-job training programs through Harvest. This partnership addresses the immediate and long term needs of impoverished families in our community. Harvest Food &  Outreach Center has the only such direct partnership with the Department of Children & Families in our county.

Q5. Is there a place where families in crisis are receiving life skills and mentoring to rebuild their lives?

Yes; At Harvest Food & Outreach Center, our programs are about big community initiatives, outreaches, and changing the fabric of our community. However, we recognize that transforming a community takes place one family at a time. When a family comes to Harvest, they enter an environment of opportunity and hope that provides the foundation from which to rebuild a successful future.

Q6. Are there ongoing programs to fight poverty available in our Community?

Yes; Core to the mission of Harvest Food & Outreach Center is the conviction that in order to address the issue of hunger in our community we must address the issue of poverty. Poverty is not addressed by distributing more food, more often, year after year. Going beyond the symptoms to the root of the issue, Harvest works with families in poverty by providing a partnership opportunity where families receive provisions to meet their basic needs, crisis counseling to bring short term stability, and education, mentoring and job training programs that will transform their lives.

Q7. Is there a place where the working poor and those on low fixed income can get help with their weekly groceries?

Yes; Harvest Food & Outreach Center has an innovative food subsidy program that offers a hand up not a hand out. Harvest’s “Cost Share Grocery Program” procures food and hygiene products from food banks and the resale and overstock markets at reduced prices, as well as through the generous donations of our community and national corporate partners. These products are then offered to families in poverty through a members-only retail-style distribution model. This model preserves the dignity of our clients who are able to “shop” in a retail-style distribution model. The funds generated by client contributions are reinvested in the product and the program to ensure the continued availability of these highly subsidized goods. Clients who participate in this program are able to invest more of their strained budget toward other necessities such as rent, utilities or doctor visits for their children.

Q8. Is there a place where food and household products are available for a minimal contribution?

Yes; Everyday (six days per week) Harvest Food & Outreach Center provides food to 360 families here in our community. Harvest does this through two different Hunger Relief Programs: the Emergency Food Box Program and our innovative Cost Share Grocery Program. Every family that comes to Harvest comes with varying needs, be it immediate or longer term. Many of our clients have very limited or no funds with which to purchase food.  These clients can receive food and hygiene products from our emergency pantry at no cost when they attend classes in our Passport to Prosperity education program. The items in our pantry are made available through food drives and individual donations. Longer term, clients are also able to stretch their dollars by shopping at Harvest’s Cost Share Grocery Program for on average 33 cents on the dollar.

Q9. Is there a place to get the bare necessities for my home for little or no cost?

Harvest’s Vero Beach campus has a large Thrift Center that provides clothes, furniture, books and other household goods at a fraction of their original cost.  When a client comes to us in a housing or other crisis situation, arrangements can be made for the Thrift Center to provide essential items through our Crisis Center’s voucher program.  The Thrift Center is stocked by the generous donations of the Vero Beach and surrounding Indian River County community’s generous donations. Many IRC residents have never worked and have difficulty landing that first job. Harvest’s Thrift Center also serves as one of the training centers for our On-the-Job-Training Program, providing entry level service industry training to the unemployed.

Q10. How can crisis care, household management and job skills training help someone escape poverty?

Many of our clients come to us from generational poverty.  They are often caught in an endless cycle of minimum wage jobs and overwhelming obstacles to keeping those jobs.  Our Crisis Counselors and Volunteer Mentors will help and support them through the process of acquiring the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to move beyond the tyranny of the present moment’s challenges.  Budgeting, Problem Solving, Time Management and Basic Nutrition are just a few of the classes available free of charge at Harvest Food &  Outreach Center.

Q11. Does partnering between community agencies in Indian River County improve the outcome of the work that is done here?

There are agencies and organizations in Indian River County that specialize in certain aspects of poverty and crisis management.  An agency such as Workforce Solutions partners with Harvest Food &  Outreach Center to provide employment placement and incentive programs for the unemployed to receive the necessary training to be gainfully employed. Harvest Food &  Outreach Center provides the educational and job training to Workforce clients. Treasure Coast Community Health provides low cost, or free, medical, dental and behavioral healthcare to those who qualify. Partnership is about recognizing the strengths of other organizations and partnering to offer a holistic approach to give those in poverty the tools and resources they need to succeed. By working together we can provide the highest quality and most comprehensive services to our neighbors in need.

Q12. What role does education play in helping people fight hunger and poverty?

Harvest Food and Outreach Center has identified education as a key factor in helping families to fight hunger and to lift themselves out of poverty. Hunger and poverty are the results of a complex mix of societal factors that can only be addressed for the long term by the education, support and hand up philosophy that educational classes provide.  Harvest’s Passport to Prosperity  Program  is designed to move the client from simply reacting to their current crisis to understanding how they can proactively affect their own future and break the endless cycle of hunger and poverty. Clients are exposed to counseling on things such as chronic disease, avoiding scams, anger management, etc.