ODHS Free Food Market
My name is Angie Landa and I am a wife, mother and a Senior at PSU. I am a finishing up my undergrad at Portland State University Spring 2024 and I am pursuing a career in Education.
For my senior capstone I had the opportunity to be a volunteer at ODHS and help participate in the Free Food Market located in the Portland Metro area. The specific locations I helped volunteer at include the FFM in Hillsboro and Tigard locations. I have extensive experience working in education and wanted to try something new by getting hands on experience working with families in need within my community.
History
ODHS is an Agency in Oregon that has helps to provide services thousands of Oregonians everyday. In 1971 ODHS was created under the former name (Oregon Department of Human Resources) as of 2001 the agency was renamed (Oregon Department of Human Services).
Mission
The services provided by ODHS to families and people in need include: Help to Child, Youth and Families, Cash aid, Food aid, Medical insurance, Disability Services, support to older adults, and Crisis and safety. These services are very important for our diverse communities to make it day to day. ODHS strives for equity and inclusion, and has a duty to help with the well-being and independence through opportunities that protect, empower, respect choice and preserve dignity.
Free Food Market
The Free Food Market is a program that is organized by the partnership between ODHS and The Oregon Food Bank.
The FFM is important because it is an opportunity once a month for families to have accessibility to free food to help make it each month. Many families now have the opportunity to come and collect diapers sizes 1-6 for their children at the FFM. When families come they will also have the opportunity to speak to professionals from other organizations for accessibility to different resources. Coming to the FFM is a confidential experience. When you arrive for food, families are only asked for their zip code so that the FFM can know how far families are traveling to seek these services. The area that I volunteered has a high Latino population. The Oregon Food Bank has this in consideration when providing food donations so they can better serve the families they are serving.
The FFM is important because it is an opportunity once a month for families to have accessibility to free food to help make it each month. Many families now have the opportunity to come and collect diapers sizes 1-6 for their children at the FFM. When families come they will also have the opportunity to speak to professionals from other organizations for accessibility to different resources. Coming to the FFM is a confidential experience. When you arrive for food, families are only asked for their zip code so that the FFM can know how far families are traveling to seek these services. The area that I volunteered has a high Latino population. The Oregon Food Bank has this in consideration when providing food donations so they can better serve the families they are serving.
Locations of the Free Food Market:
- Beaverton-Hillsboro Free Food Market
- North Clackamas Free Food Market
- Oregon City Free Food Market
- Tigard Free Food Market
My Experience
I chose to volunteer for the Free Food market because I wanted to get hands-on experience helping families in my community. I have years of experience working in schools and after school programs with children and youth, I wanted to try something new.
I had a great time volunteering at the Free Food Market. I met several people who work at DHS and civilians who like to come out and volunteer. Individuals arrive to begin the FFM set up at 8am. We first wash hands, put on gloves and begin bringing in the boxes of food into the building. Once on the building we begin to sort, unpackaged and organize the canned food, pantry good and fresh produce. When everything is separated and organized we then move the tables around the conference room so that families can have a seamless shopping experience. At the Beaverton-Hillsboro location families begin lining up outside as early as 10am and doors open at 1:30pm.
When you leave the FFM you have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. When speaking to other volunteers they also experienced the same feelings of "goodness" helping families collect food, diapers and resources.
I chose to volunteer for the Free Food market because I wanted to get hands-on experience helping families in my community. I have years of experience working in schools and after school programs with children and youth, I wanted to try something new.
I had a great time volunteering at the Free Food Market. I met several people who work at DHS and civilians who like to come out and volunteer. Individuals arrive to begin the FFM set up at 8am. We first wash hands, put on gloves and begin bringing in the boxes of food into the building. Once on the building we begin to sort, unpackaged and organize the canned food, pantry good and fresh produce. When everything is separated and organized we then move the tables around the conference room so that families can have a seamless shopping experience. At the Beaverton-Hillsboro location families begin lining up outside as early as 10am and doors open at 1:30pm.
When you leave the FFM you have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. When speaking to other volunteers they also experienced the same feelings of "goodness" helping families collect food, diapers and resources.
Photo above is of the Free Food Market at the Oregon City Location: Photo courtesy of The Oregon Food Bank
Below is a video provided by the Oregon Department of Human Services Youtube account that shares the experience and goals in the beginning of the Free Food Market (2022)
Plan of Action
The work that we are doing in the community is to continue learning who the people in our community are, learning what their needs are and understanding how far they travel to seek resources.
With the Free Food Market, ODHS is able to connect families with food, diapers and educational resources. ODHS understands the needs for families to have disability accessibility, and having speakers of different languages on site to help families navigate and get foods to feed their families to help end hunger.
My goal is to implement and effect change by continuing being active and learning from the leaders I am working with. I believe spreading awareness and letting people know about the FFM will help more families to know that there is help available and give others the opportunity to come volunteer to see the hunger we have in our neighborhoods.
Before this experience I didn't realize how large 8% of poverty is in our community and how many people are hungry. We have many families that depend on the Free Food Market to help make it through the month. I hope to stay with the volunteer committee to watch the program continue to grow. The goal for the FFM is extend the program to more areas and get more items for families to access through more donations and other partnerships.
With the Free Food Market, ODHS is able to connect families with food, diapers and educational resources. ODHS understands the needs for families to have disability accessibility, and having speakers of different languages on site to help families navigate and get foods to feed their families to help end hunger.
My goal is to implement and effect change by continuing being active and learning from the leaders I am working with. I believe spreading awareness and letting people know about the FFM will help more families to know that there is help available and give others the opportunity to come volunteer to see the hunger we have in our neighborhoods.
Before this experience I didn't realize how large 8% of poverty is in our community and how many people are hungry. We have many families that depend on the Free Food Market to help make it through the month. I hope to stay with the volunteer committee to watch the program continue to grow. The goal for the FFM is extend the program to more areas and get more items for families to access through more donations and other partnerships.
Reflection
Doing this work in the community has helped me be more confident in who I am and open up out of my shell. I am half Mexican but I wasn't raised with speaking Spanish in my home. I learned a lot of Spanish working with teachers and students in the education field and taking Spanish classes in college. When you see in me in person, I look like someone who would speak Spanish. Many families gravitated to me for support when asking questions about how many foods they can take, and what certain foods were. Luckily I was able to help communicate to families and it felt very good to contribute in ways I never have the opportunity to do.
I developed a sense of purpose because seeing the families we serve made me feel more connected to understanding the needs going on in my neighborhoods. I am used to working with children in school settings when they're away from their families, being able to work at the FFM I was able to see children come in with grocery bags, happy and excited to help their moms and dads shop for food. It warmed my heart and made me feel relieved that we have these resources for children and their families.
I developed a sense of purpose because seeing the families we serve made me feel more connected to understanding the needs going on in my neighborhoods. I am used to working with children in school settings when they're away from their families, being able to work at the FFM I was able to see children come in with grocery bags, happy and excited to help their moms and dads shop for food. It warmed my heart and made me feel relieved that we have these resources for children and their families.