Supplemental Food for People Living with HIV/AIDS

Thank you to all of our supporters for your continued commitment to providing high quality food and services to people living with HIV!

The past three months have seen significant changes in Our House's leadership team. Our new Executive Director, Mary Rita Hurley, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in HIV/AIDS caregiving and in nursing administration. And our new Development Director, Charles Stanton, brings outstanding experience in development work. With their new direction, we are thrilled to look forward as an organization as we continue to address the needs of our very complicated population in a healthcare funding landscape that increasingly looks uncertain.

It's easy to forget that healthcare also encompasses stable housing, heat, good nutrition, access to vibrant communities, and creative and spiritual wellbeing. Our House's continuum of care ensures that people not only are physically healthy, but also have access to services that ensure they can be engaged and active members of our local community. 

Our food pantry staff report higher-than-average numbers of clients using our services. Summer, for many of us, is full of bounty, fresh produce, and fun in the sun. However, we are too often reminded that summer can be a time of hardship and difficulty for many of our own community members.

March has been an exciting time for Esther's Pantry and Tod's Corner.

As previously announced our brand-new freezer has arrived and is being put to great use housing all of our frozen vegetables. We have gained a new volunteer named Rachel Debely who's been a great asset to us here at Esther's.

As is noted in the photo below, Dana Kinney has done a massive remodel to Tod's Corner finally getting clearance to hang racks on the wall making us more ADA accessible and doubling the amount of clothes we can give out.

We have secured Ace Hardware in the Pearl as a donor for our paint and supplies to paint Esther's Pantry which will be completed by them the last weekend of April, in any color we choose.

We will also be offering one time only return bus passes to the customers so that they can return home and only have to make one trip instead of multiple to be seen. Each bus pass is only good for 2.5 hours. By the time a client gets to Esther’s and packs up their food, they often can’t get back on the bus/Tri-Met within that timeframe. This was made possible through an Oregon Food Bank grant.