Imagine that you just found out your COVID-19 test came back positive. Your mind inevitably fills with worries, about your health, the well-being of your family, your job. You’ve been instructed by a health care provider to quarantine for 2 weeks to decrease the risk of spreading the virus to others. Now, imagine that you don’t have surplus cash to easily pay for an online grocery delivery service. How will you be able to feed yourself and your family while quarantining, if you cannot access a food bank or other resources that you normally rely on to feed your family? Many Cambridge residents are facing this dilemma during the pandemic and Food For Free, along with our partners, the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee and Cambridge Public Health Department, Public Health Nutrition Services, recently developed an accessible resource to help.
When a Cambridge resident tests positive for the COVID-19 virus and is asked to quarantine, or asked to isolate, due to being exposed to the virus, they are provided a contact who ensures that they understand the need to quarantine or isolate, and have the means to do so. For residents who are part of the Cambridge Health Alliance services, there has been a clear system of support provided by CHA case managers who help individuals facing food insecurity while quarantining or isolating. For residents not a part of the Cambridge Health Alliance community, the system of support was less straightforward. These residents were contacted by Care Resource Coordinators via the Community Tracing Collaborative or nurses from the local Department of Public Health. Care Resource Coordinators would contact confirmed positive COVID-19 patients to ensure they had the resources they needed to self-isolate in order to protect others. When patients informed their coordinator that they did not have the financial means to access grocery delivery services, the coordinator would often google food resources in Cambridge to try and find help.
This meant that Food For Free and other community agencies were getting random inquiries about whether they were able to help get groceries to food insecure families under quarantine or isolation. “There wasn’t a system in place for these people and we knew we needed to create something more efficient”, said Stephanie Tyler Smith, Program Director at Food For Free. That’s when Alanna Mallon, Food For Free’s K-12 Strategic Lead and Vice Mayor of Cambridge, stepped in to research this issue and determine first steps. “Alanna started the ball rolling down the hill and I guided it from there”, said Steph. The need was discussed at a Cambridge Food and Fitness Policy Council meeting, and a team to look into solutions came together.
In November 2020, Stephanie Smith started meeting with Tina Alu, Executive Director of the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee (CEOC) and three Cambridge Public Health Nutrition Services staff to develop a program that would get food to COVID-19 positive residents in need quickly and seamlessly. The team interviewed the Public Health Nurses, the Commmunity Tracing Collaborative, and others involved at the Cambridge Health Alliance to learn more about what worked for serving patients, and create a complementary system for other residents in quarantine or isolation. What they learned was that in addition to much needed food, some residents needed other supplies, such as, PPE, diapers and cleaning supplies.
Stephanie created a form that is now utilized by the Community Tracing Collaborative and the Public Health Nurses when they contact newly positive residents and those that have been exposed. This form can easily be completed for any resident who needs help with accessing food safely during self-isolation. Once completed, this form is sent to the CEOC which identifies the items needed, packs the boxes and then hands off these boxes to Food For Free whose drivers deliver 8-12 household boxes each week.
This program started delivering food and other essential items to Cambridge residents in quarantine or isolation starting the end of December and continues to provide this much needed resource weekly. “This project truly exemplifies why working in partnership is so important to Food For Free”, commented Stephanie. With the combined effort of the CEOC, Cambridge Public Health Nutrition Services and Food For Free, food insecure residents affected by COVID-19 have one less worry while trying to help the community through self-isolation.
