For nearly 20 years, the New Hope Community Pantry operated out of a church on West Hood Avenue in Old Norwood Park. On a typical week, they were serving approximately 50 households.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Rather than cease food distribution during a time of heightened community need, the pantry mobilized quickly to offer a drive-through service. As the pandemic intensified, the pantry saw the number of guests skyrocket. It became obvious that a return to the small-roomed church building was not going to suffice.
In January of 2022, New Hope moved to its new location in Jefferson Park – the gymnasium at The Branch Community Church on West Foster Avenue. The site, which pantry leaders say is more centrally located to the zip codes it serves on the city’s Northwest Side, gives the pantry more breathing room. They have since returned to an indoor store-like model of distribution and are now serving up to 200 neighbors in need a week.
The new, more spacious site provides support for neighbors like first-time mom, Ramona Rodriguez.
Rodriguez and her one-year old, Adrian, live with Rodriguez’s sister and brother-in-law in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood.
She’s grateful to have the extra support of her family as she raises her son. But it has been challenging, Rodriguez said, because she had to stop working in order to care for Adrian. She used to work two jobs. And her local daycare, she explained, won’t enroll her son until he’s older.
“They give me a lot of support,” she said of her family.
Rodriguez has also been turning to the New Hope Community Food Pantry. Adrian, she mentioned, likes the fruit and string cheese they pick up from the pantry.
“They give me diapers, wipes, baby food – this is a big help.”
Ramona Rodriguez, New Hope Community Pantry guest
Rodriguez’ family is just one of the hundreds of local families visiting New Hope in times of need. With a recent move into a larger facility, the pantry’s workers are aiming to improve the experience for the rising number of families turning to them for help.
“This has been a fabulous move for us,” Donna Oberhardt, the pantry’s coordinator, said during a recent distribution. “[Before], we always seemed to be on top of each other,” she said, adding that the expansion was well-timed especially after the recent spike in visitors likely due to inflation and rising food prices.
“This is 10 times more work than we ever had before. But it’s good work,” commented Oberhardt.
New Hope is not the only pantry seeing an increase in need. Across the Cook County area, the Food Depository’s partner network is also experiencing more guest visits. Just in June alone, the entire network served more than 141,000 households in 2022 – an increase of 14% over the same month last year.
It is unclear when inflation and food prices will stabilize. In the meantime, the Food Depository is preparing to respond to an elevated need for the foreseeable future.
To support food pantries amid elevated demand, the Food Depository offers all food at no cost to its partners and continues to make equity-driven investments that help partners expand their services.
Partnerships like the ones we have with our network of pantries, soup kitchens and shelters are essential to what we do. Our partners know the communities they serve intimately, and we rely on their experience and collaboration to get food out to our neighbors in need.
