WayForward Resources in the news

WayForward Resources Executive Director Ellen Carlson wrote a guest column published the day before Thanksgiving in the Wisconsin State Journal that addresses the dramatic increase in need food pantries in Dane County are seeing and how the community can help.

“Visits to our food pantry, which serves all of Dane County, have more than tripled since January 2022. We are now distributing the equivalent of 125,000 meals each month,” Carlson wrote.

Carlson shared that the demand shows now sign of going away and that experts point to pandemic-era support, general inflation and the steep increase in housing costs that cause people to focus even more of their income on paying rent.

“We have never turned anyone away, but we have had to put some limits on the amount of food people can take,” Carlson wrote. “We worry about how we and other local food pantries can continue to ensure that everyone in our community has access to nutritious food.”

In addition Carlson addresses the misconception is that food pantries operate mainly with state or federal support. She notes that only a small amount of food comes in through the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program. WayForward stocks its shelves by relying on a complex web of systems and collaborations. That includes strategic partnerships with Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, surplus from local grocery and convenience stores, as well as monetary and food donations from businesses, foundations, churches and individuals.

“Food pantries need your support now more than ever. Donations of money, food and your time can all make an immediate difference,” she wrote, adding that she wants people in our community to know food pantries will be there to prove a safety net.

“We must come together to make sure food pantries can continue to keep our neighbors from experiencing hunger,” she wrote.

This month, Isthmus covered the increased demand on area food pantries and WayForward Strategic Engagement Director Leslie Huber was quoted about how Madison’s highest-in-the-nation rent increases are also pushing some to need help with food too. Huber said some seeking assistance report $100 to $200 increases as their leases are renewed. “That hundred or two hundred is a game changer,” she told Isthmus. “When people are putting more and more income into staying in their home, there’s very little left for food.”

WayForward Board member Dane Monogue, Superintendent of Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, was interviewed by WKOW 27 about the growing need in our community for a story the station broadcast about WayForward’s annual Holiday Art Market.

“It’s a wonderful way for us to promote what WayForward Resources does as an organization … at a time where we’ve seen unprecedented need,” she said.