CitySquare takes the gold!

AmeriCorps--another look: Summer 2015



CitySquare summer food program shines. . .

Dallas groups tout program to feed kids during summer break
By MASAKO MELISSA HIRSCH / Staff Writer--Dallas Morning News

About 1 in 4 children in Texas don’t know where they’ll get their next meal — a problem exacerbated during the summer when they don’t have the option of free or reduced-priced school breakfasts and lunches.

On Thursday, several organizations aimed to raise awareness about the troublesome issue and to let local families know about a program that can help.

The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas hosted the event at CitySquare’s Opportunity Center. CitySquare is a nonprofit devoted to fighting poverty.

It was the second in United Way’s “Nine for 90” series, which honors the organization’s 90th anniversary with nine community service projects presented by Texas Instruments. Each project highlights one of the United Way’s main focus areas of education, financial stability and health.

“For all of us here today and in Dallas, Texas, that is not acceptable,” said Jennifer Sampson, president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, referring to the number of children going hungry.

The event corresponded with the kickoff in Dallas of the Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program, in which more than 100 organizations provide food at about 1,000 sites in Dallas County for children during the summer months.

About 73 percent of Dallas County students receive free or reduced-price school meals. Yet only about 14 percent of them take part in the summer mealsprogram.

Summer jobs now open!

Press Release: CitySquare wins state award!

CitySquare Receives Governor’s Volunteer Award for Community Leadership for Its Food on the Move Program

Dallas, TX. August 5, 2013 --- The 30^th Annual Governor’s Volunteer Awards have been announced with CitySquare being named as a recipient in the Community Leadership category. These awards allow the State of Texas to recognize individuals, organizations, corporations and public entities that truly embody the Texas tradition of community service.  The Community Leadership category recognizes an individual, group or organization for strengthening their community through outstanding partnerships, service and volunteerism. Community Leaders understand the importance of service and develop connections between groups and individuals to help them craft collaborative solutions to local needs. They exhibit a dedication to their communities that inspires those around them to serve.

Food on the Move provides over one million meals in a mobile feeding program targeting youth at low-income apartment sites, churches, nonprofits, and summer camps.  Funding for the food comes through the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program. Food on the Move takes a stand against childhood hunger statewide, offering mobile feeding programs in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. Through an innovative collaboration with AmeriCorps, the program has delivered meals and provided enrichment to thousands of children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has hailed Food on the Move “a model for the rest of the nation.”

“Both the kids we serve and our AmeriCorps members benefit from Food on the Move,” says Dr. Keven Vicknair, Director of the Food on the Move and AmeriCorps programs at CitySquare, “We are proud to be recognized with the Community Leadership Award especially for a program that is helping to shape young people into community leaders.”

All of the awardees will be honored on September 11^th at a private dinner with OneStar Foundation board members and other dignitaries at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin. In addition, awardees will be recognized throughout the Texas Nonprofit Summit on September 12th and 13th 2013.

CitySquare is one of the largest, most effective faith-based organizations in North Texas, operating a network of services and programs focused on fighting poverty through hunger relief, health care, housing and hope. CitySquare is the third largest summer food sponsor in the state of Texas.  A United Way agency, CitySquare is ranked a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator with more than 92% of revenue going directly to its programs.

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For more information about the event and the work of CitySquare, please contact: Katherine Allen at 214.303.2146, kallen@CitySquare.org  or Lou Ann York at 214.343.1599, lapub@sbcglobal.net .

Summer hunger and nutrition

Watch this report on CitySquare's "Food on the Move" program this summer in Austin, Texas.

 We're also delivering meals in Dallas and Houston. In addition to the meals, we provide organized physical fitness activities for low-income children.

 

Just in from our AmeriCorps team in Houston. . .

[This report just in from Dr. Keven Vicknair, Director of our AmeriCorps team at CitySquare.  CitySquare directs almost 300 AmeriCorps members who work in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin this summer at children's programs and delivering summer lunches to thousands of low-income kids.  I find this report both amazing and yet, not at all atypical for some of the neighborhoods where we live and work.]

AmeriCorps members are gathered right now, eating lunch and talking about their day with one another.

As I walked through, I heard two members tell a story of their experience putting out door hangers at one of their stops.

The manager had told them not to talk to anyone on site. As the team of two young people made their way through the complex, they came across a group of young men blocking the path and talking about shooting someone the night before.

The team had to make a choice to turn back to go the long way around the property or to casually pass.

They choose to casually pass and the group stopped talking, let them pass, and then resumed their discussion of the person they shot the previous evening.

So... as you go about your day, please know you will at least not have to experience anything like the fear these two 20 years old members did today as they tried to make sure kids have a decent meal for lunch.

Keven

AmeriCorps

CitySquare's great summer AmeriCorps team begins work on Monday, June 4!  All of our members will be working with children and nutrition in one way or another throughout the summer.

Texas has the 2nd highest rate of “food insecurity” in the U.S. and the highest rate of child hunger in the nation.

With the cut-backs in funding for recreation centers and summer programs in Dallas, CitySquare has filled in the gaps for several years. Summer 2012 is no different.

Once again, City Square and its team of AmeriCorps volunteers, begin a Summer of Service and the summer food program, Food on the Move, to see that Dallas area kids living in under served communities will have food and activities this summer. CitySquare’s Food on the Move program deploys mobile feeding units into the neighborhoods where children are not involved in other summer programming.

This year, CitySquare goes statewide instituting the summer food program in Irving, Austin, Houston and San Antonio! The goal for Food on the Move 2012 is to serve over 500,000 summer meals and make an impact on childhood hunger across Texas.

It is not only food that will be served up by these young ambassadors. They also spend an hour each day with the kids on their “routes” in activities geared to enrich young minds and to prevent obesity.

Food on the Move is a project in partnership with Pepsi.

Last week, CitySquare organized the swearing in of over 250 AmeriCorps members!  Thanks to Dr. Terry Flowers and St. Philip’s School & Community Center for  hosting the rousing ceremony!

It was my great honor to administer the AmeriCorps Pledge to our new members:

I will get things done for America

To make our people safer, smarter and healthier

I will bring Americans together

To strengthen our communities

Faced with apathy, I will take action

Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground

Faced with adversity, I will persevere

I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond

I am an AmeriCorps member

And I will get things done!

CitySquare AmeriCorps team recruiting for summer 2012!

CitySquare is still actively recruiting for nearly 230 summer AmeriCorps positions in Dallas to serve with Food on the Move.

CitySquare’s Food on the Move program combats childhood hunger by deploying mobile teams of AmeriCorps members into low-income apartment communities to provide youth with a nutritious lunch and 30-45 minutes of enrichment each day during the summer break from school. The youth we touch do not have access to traditional summer programming or nutritious meals during the day – so we bring it to them!

Members must be 17 or older with a HS Diploma or GED prior to program start (May 29), have reliable transportation, and a desire to work with youth. In return for 330 hours of service between May 29-Aug 17, members receive a $1,800 living allowance and $1,175 education award.

CitySquare's AmeriCorps team provides the perfect service opportunity for returning college students, graduating seniors, or someone who just wants to give back in a big way this summer!

How to refer someone to our program:

1. Simply direct your friends, peers, neighbors, family, etc to the CitySquare website at www.CitySquare.org/BecomeAMember.

2. Direct potential applicants to us via email at AmeriCorps@CitySquare.org.

How to help us spread the word:

1. Pass this on via email to friends, family, peers, church groups, civic groups, PTA, neighborhood associations, any group you have access to via email.

2. Invite us to speak at a relevant networking event, organizational meeting, college class, etc.

3. Word of mouth – share this opportunity with your friends and family over dinner, at church, and other social gatherings!

4. Post a Flyer – I’ve attached a pull-tab flyer you can print out and post at your site, church, or any other community boards you have access to.

5. Social Media – blog, tweet, or facebook us! – spread the word about this opportunity through your social networks!

All the information any applicant will need to know may be found at our website.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or ideas on how to get the word out about this great summer opportunity.

In service,

Jennifer A. Rajkumar
Associate Director
N2 Texas Corps
CitySquare
409 N. Haskell Ave.
Dallas, TX 75246

P: 214 828 1085 ext 122
F: 214 828 6392
jrajkumar@CitySquare.org
www.CitySquare.org

Food on the Move

We received the drawing above from a child involved in our "Food on the Move" initiative this summer.  You'll also see a thank you letter from this child's mother. 

Partnering with the Texas Department of Agriculture through our Nurture, Knowledge and Nutrition (N,K,N) team, our AmeriCorps team and our for-profit allies at PepsiCo, we delivered thousands of meals to eligible children living all across Dallas. 

Theresa Cissell, Program Specialist for our AmeriCorps team sent the drawing and the letter my way with the following commentary:

I thought you might enjoy the letter (an accompanying drawing) we got from one of the parents at a Food on the Move site. I think it shows that this program is about more than lunches!
 
Here are some stats for the summer that I sent to the amazing AmeriCorps members that made it through the summer, and with smiles on their faces.


We started the summer with 53 dedicated AmeriCorps members & 9 mobile routes.


You made it through 40 days of triple digit temperatures & 23,943 hours of service.

And together, this is what you achieved:  1,136 children received the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award & 279,551 meals were served to kids.

The Food on the Move effort does not take into account the meals delivered through N,K,N to well over 100 program sites across Dallas.  We'll have those numbers to add to this report later.  Combined we served well over 500,000 meals to low-income children during the summer school break.
Great work in the midst of recording breaking summer in terms of both temperature and community service!

Summer Lunch numbers

For several years now, CitySquare has contracted with the Texas Department of Agriculture to provide the summer lunch program to children who receive the benefit during the school year.  The logistics of providing so many meals to a "scattered" population are challenging to say the least! 

Sonia White directs CitySquare's Nurture, Knowledge and Nutrition division which administers the food delivery program during the summer, as well at to a growing number of program sites during the year who operate after school programs.  Sonia has been recognized as a state and national leader in childhood nutrition and feeding programs. 

Here's a rundown on our summer numbers:

In 2009, we had 142 sites where we served approximately 382,800 meals to 10,000 children, total. For the mobile, that included 18 stops, 50,000 meals to approximately 1800 children. We had 5 sites in Austin, where approximately 150 children were served 3000 meals.

In 2010, we had 213 sites total, where we served approximately 717,000 meals to 17,000 children. For the mobile, that included 95 unique sites, 285,000 meals to 8000 children. In Austin we again had 5 sites, where approximately 200 children were served 6000 meals

We are projecting that in 2011, we will have 258 sites serving over 26,000 children, over 1,100,000 meals. The mobile would make up approximately 100 unique sites, 500,000 meals to 10,000 children. The Austin project would have 37 sites, 50,000 meals to 1200 children.

Even with this amazing growth, there are still 275,000 children in Dallas county eligible for this program who are NOT being served through our sites. I would guess that MAYBE a combined 25,000 of these children MIGHT be served through other sponsors in Dallas County.

FOX News: School lunch programs impact poverty

School Lunch Programs Might Break Poverty Cycle
Published November 24, 2010

Teens who live in households where food is scarce suffer academically, but a new study has found that government programs to provide meals in schools can reverse this effect.

According to the researchers, the findings suggest that school programs aimed at reducing so-called food insecurity can break an insidious cycle of poverty: poor children go hungry, get bad grades, don't go on to college and fail to rise out of their socioeconomic status -- raising children whose lives follow the same unfortunate narrative.

"Food insecurity is more problematic in the long term if it occurs prior to adolescence, but it doesn't mean that adolescents are more resilient than younger children," said study leader Christelle Roustit, of the Research Group on the Social Determinants of Health and Healthcare, in Paris, France. The researchers reported their findings in the medical journal Pediatrics.

The severe recession has taken a toll on food security. In the United States, a recent report by the Department of Agriculture found that nearly 15% of American households faced food insecurity at some point in 2009, the highest level since officials began tracking the measure in 1995.

Food insecurity in childhood is thought to undercut scholastic achievement in at least two ways. It deprives the body of nutrients necessary for proper mental and physical development, and it creates an atmosphere of stress and uncertainty that saps a kid's desire to attend school and to perform well.

In the new study, Roustit and her colleagues analyzed questionnaires given to 2,346 public high school students in Quebec, Canada, along with nearly 2,000 of their parents. The surveys asked about issues of school performance and socioeconomic status and included several questions addressing food security at home. These included whether a lack of money prevented the family from eating enough, or from buying a sufficient variety of foods.

Just over 11 percent of teens in the study experienced food insecurity at home, according to the researchers. Of those, two-thirds attended schools that offered free or low-cost breakfast, lunch or snacks, allowing the researchers to look for an effect of the meals program on academic performance.

The study revealed that food insecurity was strongly associated with problems in school. However, children with food insecurity at home performed significantly better academically if their school offered meal assistance. They were much less likely to be held back a year, to score badly in language testing or to rate their overall academic performance as poor.

Although the data come from the 1990s, Roustit said a new survey of Quebec adolescents is now in progress. "We would be able to compare the results of 1999 to 2009 in few years," she said.

Nicola Edwards, a dietician and food policy expert at California Food Policy Advocates, an Oakland-based nonprofit, said the results of the study are unsurprising.

If children are hungry they cannot learn, Edwards said. "There is a direct correlation between food insecurity and academic performance," she said.

In the United States, teachers and school administrators report that children who take advantage of food assistance programs in schools have improved behavior, fewer absences and better test scores, Edwards added.

Under the federal Child Nutrition Act, more than 31 million American school children receive free or inexpensive lunches through the National School Lunch Program. Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level ($28,665 for a family of four) are eligible for free meals. Those with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level ($40,793 for a family of four) are eligible to receive lunch for a cost of no more than 40 cents.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National School Lunch Program cost $9.8 billion in 2009. A study of this program that was published earlier this year supports the Canadian findings. Dr. Peter Hinrichs at Georgetown University in Washington DC reported in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management that for children who participate in the National School Lunch Program, "the effects on educational attainment are sizable."

[Visit the FOX site here.]

Food on the Move, Again!

Summer Lunch Program

Judy Pasternak, a writer/reporter, published an insightful article with aolnews.com on the benefits and challenges of the Summer Lunch Program in the U. S.

It is definitely worth a read. Central Dallas Ministries' involvement with the lunch program over the past several years has placed us up close to the lives and struggles of very low-income children and families.

This summer, our Food on the Move initiative that teamed up with PepsiCo's Food for Good effort, CDM AmeriCorps and the Texas Department of Agriculture to feed over 16,000 children more than 500,000 meals at 209 locations in Dallas County--more than twice as many as last year. PepsiCo's mobile capacity allowed us to extend into areas where children live without the benefit of organized summer programs. Clearly, we were reaching some of the most hungry children in our community.

Pasternak's report is revealing.

Record Number of US Kids Facing Summer of Hunger

AOL News WASHINGTON (June 16) -- With the school year ending in communities across America, more than 16 million children face a summer of hunger.

While classes were in session, they relied on free or discount cafeteria meals subsidized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But they will not be reached by the patchwork summer food programs financed by the USDA, which feed fewer than one in five of the total number of kids poor enough to qualify.

The children caught in the gap will likely spend the next few months cadging leftovers from neighbors, chowing down on cheap junk, lining up with their families at food banks that are already overmatched or simply learning to live with a constant headache, growling stomach and chronic fatigue. When school rolls around again in the fall, they will be less healthy and less ready to learn than their peers.

To read the entire report click here.

"Food for Good"

Central Dallas Ministries has enjoyed a great partnership with PepsiCo's "Food for Good" initiative for a second summer.  Last year we partnered in a mobile lunch delivery effort with PepsiCo.  This summer we rolled out a fully developed mobile delivery strategy in Dallas, while PepsiCo replicated the pilot program in Chicago with Catholic Charities as a partner. 

The whole deal is way beyond cool and exciting! 

Here's the report as we close in on the last three weeks of the joint effort that linked CDM's AmeriCorps team, PepsiCo and the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

• The summer feeding program created 100 summer jobs and has now served more than 200,000 meals in Dallas, Texas across 10 routes with 3 weeks to go!

• We kicked off a mobile summer feeding program in Chicago on July 12 that has served more than 10,000 meals across 2 routes.

• We have 6 farm stands up and running in Dallas that, in just a few weeks, have profitably provided more than 20,000 servings of fruits & vegetables and valuable business skills to 30+ volunteers.

• The students at Paul Quinn College here in Dallas continue to run a fully operational urban farm, including harvesting and selling more than 100 pounds (!) of fruits & vegetables last week.

More details to come.  We're making very significant progress!

Food for Good

Great story in yesterday's edition of The Dallas Morning News about our partnership with the U. S. Department of Agriculture, AmeriCorps and PepsiCo to provide hundreds of thousands of additional summer meals to low-income children in Dallas.

Here's a taste of the report by Ananda Boardman:


Food for Good summer program serves 200,000th meal in Dallas

Htee Kushee remembers running from soldiers in her native Burma as a 3-year-old.

Htee still runs, but now she and her friends gather twice a day at the Towne Center Apartments in northeast Dallas, where their motivation is happiness instead of fear. Thanks to the Food for Good Initiative, a partnership between PepsiCo Inc. and Central Dallas Ministries, 10-year-old Htee and other North Texas youngsters get a free breakfast and lunch each weekday.

"I like it," Htee said simply.

Texas ranks second to Mississippi as the state with the most kids at risk to go hungry each day, according to Feeding America, a Chicago-based hunger relief organization.

Between 300,000 and 400,000 children receive free or reduced-price lunches in the Dallas area during the school year, but during the summer, access to such meals is severely limited.

For the second consecutive year, the Food for Good program has helped fill that void.

On Wednesday, it served its 200,000th meal of the summer, and officials expect to do more.

To read the entire report click here.

Food on the Move: Summer Lunch Program

The images in the video below sum up "Food on the Move," a partnership effort of Central Dallas Ministries (CDM), the CDM AmeriCorps team, the Texas Department of Agriculture and PepsiCo's "Food for Good" initiative.

Hundreds of thousands of meals will have been served to low-income children by the end of the program in August. Here's where we are through July 28:  201,124 meals served to 7,924 unduplicated children and youth through the joint-effort, mobile feeding program. 

The effort is one of a kind, a new national model of food delivery, as well as a new kind of partnership involving a local non-profit, two publically funded programs and a major, international corporation.

Amazing encouragement to children, their families, our AmeriCorps members, and the drivers and volunteers from PepsiCo.

What a great summer we've had!

Texas kids: hungry and obese

Recent reports indicate that far too many Texas children battle the twin, and seemingly paradoxical challenges of hunger ("food insecurity") and obesity. 

How can this be? 

Here's a report news report from  Austin, Texas.

Garcia: Texas children sandwiched between hunger and obesity

Eileen Garcia, Local Contributor
Tuesday, July 13, 2010


Two recent reports relayed bad and seemingly paradoxical news for Texas children. According to the latest research, our Texas kids, more than almost any in the country, face threats from both hunger and obesity.

Nearly one out of four Texas children is "food insecure," meaning they might not know where their next meal will come from, says a July 1 report from Feeding America, which ranked Texas 49th in the country for providing reliable food access for children under 18. The same week, however, the Trust for America's Health announced Texas children suffer disproportionately from obesity. More than 20 percent of kids here are obese, and Texas had the seventh-highest child obesity ranking.

Underlying these statistics is a sad reality: Too many children get poorly nourished because their environment—at school, in the neighborhood and their community—proves inhospitable to healthy eating. Four factors help explain why.

To read on, click here.

We've got to focus and find ways to do better.  What do you think?

AmeriCorps and "Food on the Move"

Want to see our summer lunch innovation in action? 

What to see children served healthy meals by AmeriCorps members who've been there? 

What to see a national model for innovation that could change the way U. S. Department of Agriculture delivers meal services to millions of children every summer?

You've got to check our the story found here!

CDM's AmeriCorps team and children

Central Dallas Ministries unleashed a 350-member AmeriCorps team into the neighborhoods of Dallas earlier this month. Our summer members are working with children every day, providing safety, learning, social skills and lots of fun.

Take a look at the recent news report on our efforts with our AmeriCorps team.