BELLOWS FALLS — With fall giving way to winter, the staff at Our Place Drop-in Center in Bellows Falls is looking forward to a busy and productive season.
Though cold and snow mean an unusually heavy client load, our staff members are ready to meet the challenge and are energized to continue serving their neighbors and others in need.
Located on Island Street in the heart of Bellows Falls, Our Place has been serving the area for more than 20 years.
As a drop-in center for people who need shelter during the day, it offers a telephone, fax, and computer for local or long-distance communications, along with a shower and rest room.
Its well-appointed kitchen serves healthy, delicious hot meals at breakfast and lunch. The dining room and sitting area provide a gathering place where people can enjoy good company, share information about community resources, and offer help to someone in need. Sharing meals is an enjoyable experience that also nourishes the spirit.
Behind the kitchen, the food pantry is set up like a small grocery store. The main shelves hold foods organized by category: grains, proteins, vegetables, and fruits (including 100-percent juice).
Other shelves offer miscellaneous items such as salad dressing, salsa, and muffin mixes, along with personal-care items. The baby food section is kept fully stocked with food, formula, and some sizes of diapers. When possible, fresh vegetables and fruits are also made available.
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This winter, the staff will welcome a diverse population, ranging from senior citizens to young families.
Some guests are unemployed or seasonally out of work; others work for low wages and limited hours; others are disabled and the heads of their households.
Trained staff members help every eligible client register for 3 Squares VT, a monthly food benefit that Our Place supplements. Many senior citizens eat meals at Our Place a few times every week, as do a number of people with disabilities who depend on Social Security benefits.
Week after week, Our Place provides wholesome foods to people from Athens, Bellows Falls, Cambridgeport, Rockingham, Saxtons River, Walpole, North Walpole, Westminster, and other local towns.
With its services, Our Place helps people nourish themselves and their families and stretch their resources to meet other needs, such as housing, car expenses, heating, and medicine.
As the temperatures drop outdoors, many people spend the entire day relaxing and chatting in the lounge area adjacent to the dining room.
Matt, the full-time chef and food services manager, plans menus, cooks the meals, and serves the guests before sitting down to eat with them. With Yankee ingenuity, he creates tasty, nutritious meals from whatever is abundant that day.
Each month in winter (January through March), Our Place serves meals to between 1,000 and 1,500 clients. Because Matt is always in the front of the house, he often is the first to recognize when someone needs additional help.
Two part-time employees, Belinda and Amanda, share responsibility for the daily operation of the Food Pantry, serving 300 to 500 clients each month during the winter quarter. Our Place also delivers food baskets (each with enough food for about a month) to more than 50 people.
Amanda helps clients with food choices, assists with benefit applications, and makes referrals for fuel assistance and other necessities, while Belinda also helps Matt prepare and serve meals.
Finally, Amanda coordinates the work of the many volunteers who help Our Place in countless important ways.
Lisa Pitcher, the executive director, manages daily operations while making sure that resources are available to support the client load.
This winter, as in previous years, Our Place will rely on funds from individual donors (20 percent), contributions from local churches and businesses (10 percent), special event income (15 percent), foundation grants (20 percent), and in-kind food donations (30 percent).
Approximately 70 percent of the food served for breakfast and lunch and distributed from the food pantry is donated by local grocery stores, individuals, schools, businesses, and the Vermont Foodbank. Lisa also purchases food from the food bank, local grocery stores, and a dairy delivery company.
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As Our Place looks back to its goals of last summer and fall, it has fulfilled one - to increase the variety and quantity of fresh local vegetables and fruits on hand - by purchasing several CSA shares from local farms.
Also, through a gleaning program this fall coordinated by Salvation Farms, we will use large quantities of green peppers, kale, apples, and squash throughout the winter.
Another ongoing goal was to spread the word about ways people can save money while feeding themselves and their families with fresh produce, complex carbohydrates, and lean meats. Our Place worked to expand its small garden and found additional garden space for staff as well as clients who wanted to plan and maintain gardens.
Finally, Our Place will continue to explore ways to help parents meet the dietary needs of their growing children. For example, Chef Matt plans to teach healthy cooking classes to local children and their parents during the winter.
The Family Nights held from 5 to 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month will continue through the winter. In addition to the evening meal, families enjoy games, reading aloud, and an occasional guest speaker.
New initiatives include the expansion of the children's portion of the food pantry to stock more items appealing to younger users, the beginning of a program to dehydrate fruits and vegetables, and the production of bread to serve at meals and offer to users of the food pantry.
By bringing folks and food together, Our Place welcomes visitors and greatly appreciates the ongoing support that underpins its success.