Food Bank Adds Free Clinic, Job Help, Tutoring to Menu
Orlando, Florida (PRWEB) May 6, 2007 -- Every week, 1,500 families in Central Florida can put food on their tables because of Greater Orlando Food Outreach.
On average, a four-person family that visits the outreach center earns less than $20,000 per year, said Andrae Bailey, Executive Director of Food Outreach. In Central Florida, that's not enough to pay the bills.
The outreach center calls itself Central Florida's largest faith-based food-subsidy program for the "working poor," those who have jobs but struggle to make ends meet.
But its directors saw the need to expand their offerings. So they have opened a Compassion Outreach Center in a renovated section of their warehouse just south of downtown Orlando. The center celebrated its formal opening Friday.
Now, people shopping for groceries also can apply for a job, take a life-skills class, register their children for tutoring or reduced-price health care, and have their children's illnesses treated.
"From our very inception, we saw that food isn't the only need that people have," Bailey said. "We couldn't ignore the needs that were right in front of us. People need mental, emotional and spiritual help, too."
A study released last year by Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida found that more than 14,000 people in the area must decide between paying the rent or eating, and 18,000 more must choose between medical needs and food.
Medical needs brought 67 children to the outreach's first free clinic last month, which was staffed by three doctors and two nurses, all volunteers. Some children had bronchitis; others had high blood pressure or diabetes caused by a cheap, carbohydrate-laden diet; and one had an infected eye, said Nancy Pfaff, the clinic's director.
The children, who ranged in age from 4 to 18, were all uninsured. Each left with a toy, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Some got a $4 prescription or referrals to low-cost doctors or emergency care.
For now, the clinic is a small room partitioned by sheets hanging from PVC pipes, and patients sit on folding tables covered by thin foam pads and paper. But the clinic expects 200 patients at its session Sunday, the next time it will be open. Officials hope to offer daily treatment in the future.
On the way out, parents can stop by one of 10 computers to apply for food stamps or Medicaid. Two hundred people have done so since the center's informal opening six weeks ago.
The center already has many customers at its grocery store. For a $10 annual membership fee, patrons can buy items for pennies on the dollar.
Patricia Dillon, 62, drives from Pine Hills every week to shop for groceries.
"A loaf of this bread in the store is expensive," Dillon said as she loaded a cart with frozen apple juice and bread. She brings some of it to her neighbor, who uses a wheelchair.
Dillon worked as a nurse's aide until taking early retirement to care for her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease. Now she's living on Social Security income.
"Every bill went up last month," she said. "Electricity, water, everything. This store helps me greatly."
Even with cheaper grocery bills, some still struggle. Finding better employment can be challenging because many living in poverty don't know where to look or how to further their education, said Kimberly Cornett, vice president of communications at Workforce Central Florida, which has set up a booth at the center to offer information to visitors.
Mary Knowles | Sentinel Staff Writer
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