Supplemental Food for People Living with HIV/AIDS

This year, our residents and clients have been very excited about creating a community garden.  Because we have been emphasizing good nutrition and looking closely at our budget as well, this is a perfect project.  It is also a wonderful occupational therapy project. 

At Our House we transformed the curbside property into a productive vegetable garden.  At Swan House, we added planter boxes to the front property.  There are early crops such as peas and radishes.  There are also later producing vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and other nutritious vegetables that can easily supplement our current food supply.

Although we do get a lot of donations of produce from local grocers and other providers, the vegetables that we grow ourselves have special meaning and we know what is put into the soil and how it is harvested.  Any excess harvest can be easily donated to Esther's Pantry (our food pantry).

Links:

• Our House Home Page

Over the past 12 months, we have served more clients than ever.  People use the services of Esther's Pantry and Tod's Corner to avoid the stigma that still exists for people with HIV and AIDS.  They are able to supplement their low incomes by choosing food, clothing or household items for their household.  Listed below are the statistics of clients served:

675 total clients served, which includes 6 non-HIV clients

2511 Food Boxes given out

1418 client visits to Tod’s Corner, pet care, ID requests, etc.

 Gender:               88% Male; 11% Female; 1% Other

 Ethnicity:             71% Caucasian; 10% African American; 9% Hispanic; 4% Native American; 4% Other

 Age:                       2% 65 and older; 29% 50-64; 43% 40-49; 17% 30-39; 7% 20-29; 2% unknown

 Monthly Averages:

 New Esther’s clients       12

Returning Esther’s           197

 New Tod’s Corner clients             8

Returning Tod’s Corner clients   90

Other services new clients           5

Returning Other Services client 15

 Unduplicated clients       232

 Pounds of Food              3060

 Volunteer Hours              301

From a donor....

“Esther’s Pantry, a program of Our House, is an obvious choice for me when selecting worthy community not-for-profit organizations to support. Our House is clearly a mission-driven, direct service agency that puts a lot of care and thought into the manner in which they deliver health and human services. The fact that Esther’s Pantry allows clients to select their own food has always impressed me. It’s indicative of offering clients much more than food -- offering them choice and dignity. When you’re living with HIV/AIDs, there’s much that can seem out of one’s control. The ability to put food on your table that meets your cultural, dietary and family interests, not only meets some needs, but brings some relief and peace of mind. That’s great for the health and well-being of clients. That’s a holistic approach. That’s Our House.”

Esther's Pantry and Tod's Corner are located at 3315 SE Harrison, Suite A, Milwaukie, OR 97222

Links:

• Link to Esther's Pantry
• link to Tod's Corner