With the arrival of Thanksgiving last week, many organizations and businesses donated money and food to make sure their neighbors in need wouldn’t go hungry for the holiday season. However, it’s a need that exists year round with Dublin’s poverty rate of 26.15 % (reported in 2019; the state poverty rate was 13.7%).
To address the community’s issues with food insecurity, a ‘ Community Conversation’ was hosted by the Dublin Public Library on Aug. 25, 2021 with many local organizations in attendance. Their collaboration revealed there are many resources, particularly for those over a certain age, but there is also room for growth.
Following the conversation, the library has kept a resource guide on hand which showcases all the Erath County agencies that help families in need. The guide was produced by the Erath County United Way and can be found online at erathcountyuw.org. Those who don’t have internet access can visit the library Tuesday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Librarian Adina Dunn said the resources have been reviewed often by people in need visiting the library.
This conversation series, sponsored through the American Library Association’s Libraries Transforming Communities grant program, was coordinated to target food insecurity issues in the county and grow resources by having organizations communicate with each other and the community.
“Some of the people had no idea there were other organizations who shared the same outreach,” said librarian Adina Dunn, indicating the discussion achieved part of its goals immediately.
Dunn realized quickly though that the ten organizations in attendance did collaborate with each other before. Many actually direct families in need to get a pledge letter from Grace Place in Stephenville as a starting point. These letters communicate needs that have yet to be met to groups like Dublin Goodfellows.
“During this meeting, the discussion focused on each organization’s outreach services and how they were addressing the many different needs in our community,” said Dunn. “The sharing of this knowledge led to some questions and discussion of expansion of programs.”
Organizations present included Meals on Wheels of Erath County (who serve 30-45 homebound clients, usually over 60 years of age), Love Basket (who operates a mobile food pantry twice per month), Cottonwood Baptist Church (who operates a food pantry and helps with toiletries and counseling), Christian Women’s Job Corps (who provides classes/service to help women get into the workforce and has items for those in need) and AgriLife Extension Agency (who provides classes on maintaining food and working with a budget).
It was also pointed out that there are many resources for Erath Citizens over the age of 40 through ECUW and Erath County Community Bridges.
The conversation proved fruitful but a second discussion actually occurred when the library offered food that was left over to patrons who happened to be in the building.
“During this time we discussed food insecurity from a different perspective--This perspective was of people who actually used the food banks,” said Dunn. “They discussed how much they appreciated the help and which ones provided the best. They also discussed what challenges kept them from utilizing other food banks and what would need to change for them to try again.”
Erath has a wealth of services to help its neighbors in need, but it’s only through open dialogue that these can grow and get more effective.