Photo: Yoab Anderson/Unsplash
Every day, food needs for thousands of people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside remain unmet. A unique new partnership aims to support people with lived experience from within the community to deliver healthy meals where they are needed most to address this gap.
Hundreds of free meals are being delivered to people who live and work on the street overnight in the DTES and city-wide, through the joint efforts of Indigenous-owned Cedar Feast House Catering, WISH Drop-In Centre Society’s Mobile Access Project (MAP) Van, the City of Vancouver and United Way British Columbia Local Love Food Hubs.
“We are working with partners to ensure everyone has access to the food they need right in their neighbourhood during this health crisis. Our Local Love Food Hubs strive to give people the dignity we all deserve and a create a point of connection with community,” says Kim Winchell, Senior Director of Strategy and Operations at United Way British Columbia.
This Local Love Food Hub is funded by the Government of Canada through the Emergency Community Support Fund (ESCF). The Fund aims to help charities and non-profit organizations adapt and increase frontline services for vulnerable populations during COVID-19.
A critical point of contact
Support like this program has been an important way to get meals out to vulnerable populations. This is also an opportunity for community members with lived experience to provide a critical point of contact to share information on COVID-19 safety, personal protective equipment, hand washing stations, housing and shelters, and safe supply.
The mission of program partner WISH is to improve the health, safety and well-being of women who are involved in Vancouver’s street-based sex trade, some of the most marginalized and vulnerable people in the city. Those who engage in street-based sex work are even more at risk of social stigma, violence and health crises.
“WISH is seeing an unprecedented level of food precarity during this pandemic. People who have not struggled to secure food before are now desperate for support from WISH and other service providers for water, meals and snacks. With the scaling back or closing of services, and with loss of income faced by the population we serve, we are seeing people unable to access or afford food,” said Mebrat Beyene, Executive Director, WISH.
The median age of women being served by the WISH MAP Van is 41. Approximately 90 per cent are living with mental health issues; 90 per cent are drug users; 80 per cent are homeless or precariously housed; 50 per cent are Indigenous; 45 per cent are seniors; 25 per cent are LGBTQ2S; and 10 to 15 percent are living with physical disabilities. One hundred per cent of the women WISH serves are low income.
People who experience multiple forms of oppression face compounding barriers to access support services; this results in a lower likelihood they will have access to food. The City of Vancouver’s Community Resilience Liaisons, including Food Security, have been working with organizations that prioritize self-determination in developing COVID-related responses.
The City of Vancouver proposed and facilitated the partnership between United Way, Cedar Feast Catering, and WISH.
“We’re pleased the City can play a role during the pandemic response to facilitate partnerships between organizations like WISH, who equip communities to lead their own responses, and Indigenous-led businesses like Cedar Feast who have stepped up to provide food services as soon as we called,” said Dianna Hurford, Senior Planner for City of Vancouver’s Social Policy Urban Health team.
Cedar Feast House is owned and operated by Theresa Contois, whose ancestors are of Anishinabe and Lakota Sioux descent. The Indigenous catering company contracts with UBC, City of Vancouver, Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services, First Nations Health Authority and other Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations. Cedar Feast House Catering Ltd. has earned a reputation as a healthy culinary alternative with traditional dishes and a fusion of contemporary culinary cuisine.
“We all put our energy into what we do because we love it so much, we’re putting our love into the food. Food is medicine to me,” says Theresa.
Local Love Food Hubs provide groceries, food hampers, prepared meals, and supermarket gift cards to people facing a lack of food in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. Non-profits, schools and faith-based organizations are stepping in to host Local Love Food Hubs and distribute food. All United Way COVID-19 response services are no cost.
For Theresa, giving back is in her blood: “You give back to the community, that’s what my mother taught me and it is also an essential component of our culture and worldview.”
Thanks to the generosity of United Way donors and the ECSF, United Way has plans to expand the program to up to 50 neighbourhoods and is anticipating future needs for up to one year.
