Crooked Creek Food Pantry

Crooked Creek Food Pantry (CCFP), co-located within Eskenazi Health Center Pecar, provides quick and convenient access to nutritious food options after screening clients for food insecurity. As a separate 501c3 nonprofit corporation, funding comes from community-based organizations and individual donors.

Leading and supporting a large food pantry requires significant leadership commitment. Funding it in an FQHC setting may present additional difficulties.

Client-Choice Pantry

Crooked Creek Food Pantry (CCFP) serves families and individuals living in Pike Township and part of Washington Township in Marion County, Indiana. Considered a food desert, CCFP has become widely recognized for its innovative and practical approach to providing access to nutritious food sources. Within Eskenazi Health Center Pecar FQHC’s Eskenazi Health Center Pecar FQHC facility, CCFP operates as a client-choice pantry where eligible households may shop twice monthly for groceries and household essentials.

Since CCFP began operating in 2015, its impact has dramatically expanded. To ensure adequate capacity, the program initially employed a retail-style food distribution model and has since transitioned into an automated drive-through food distribution system due to pandemic needs.

CCFP’s co-location within health clinics facilitates easy access to food resources for those screening positive for food insecurity to reduce the stigma associated with food insecurity and access barriers. Furthermore, its “Food Is Medicine” referral process facilitates client engagement within the health care system by including food in client plans.

Managing a large, client-choice food pantry is complex and requires significant volunteer capacity, management training, and organization. CCFP relies primarily on in-kind donations from Gleaners as its source for food purchases; their board of directors comprises representatives from founding member organizations Corteva Agriscience, Eskenazi Health, St Luke’s United Methodist Church, and community members for governance purposes.

Nutrition Education Program

Crooked Creek Food Pantry (CCFP) is a client-choice pantry offering groceries to families twice monthly. Through their nutrition education program, clients are assisted in meeting their healthcare needs by connecting to internal and external resources that address food insecurity and other social determinants of health that impact them negatively. Furthermore, registered dietitians offer monthly food demonstrations where patients learn healthy recipes/cooking techniques/grocery shopping tips/disease-specific guidance/and other relevant topics that help ensure optimal wellness.

The CCFP also operates a community garden project to give local families access to fresh produce they may otherwise not have the chance to buy. Furthermore, we have partnered with community-based organizations to deliver home-delivered meals directly to vulnerable seniors, children, and adults who cannot visit due to transportation limitations or other reasons.

Food insecurity and poor diet contribute to high rates of chronic health conditions, leading to decreased quality of life for those living with them. Healthcare systems are now striving to integrate medical and social services to address these critical drivers of poor health; a successful integrated model requires significant capacity and extensive community partnerships. In this case study, Eskenazi Health Center Pecar in Indianapolis, Indiana, exemplifies this endeavor. This case study details a community food pantry’s development and ongoing operations within one such Federally Qualified Health Center: Eskenazi Health Center Pecar in Indianapolis, USA.

Volunteer Opportunities

Crooked Creek Food Pantry (CCFP) serves families and persons living in a food desert in Pike Township and western Washington Township in Marion County. Housed within Eskenazi Health Center Pecar Building, this pantry works tirelessly to eliminate hunger while building relationships that support its clients’ needs.

CCFP implements a client choice model where eligible families and individuals can shop twice every month for items they need and prefer, with additional educational programs that may help break out of the poverty cycle.

Saint Monica Church has joined the food pantry by accepting financial and non-food donations at our church’s narthex in the large bin. If you would like to donate, don’t hesitate to contact the parish office. Items most needed include kinds of pasta and rice; canned meats including tuna, chicken, beef, and jelly; peanut butter; condiments; boxes of cereals and other staples. Furthermore, volunteers have begun planting an acre-and-a-half urban farm, eventually supplying their needs.

Donations

CCFP serves families and individuals in Pike Township (Marion County) and western Washington Township with food insecurity, located within Eskenazi Health Center Pecar Building – in what’s considered a food desert – of Marion County and west Washington Township. Instead of giving predetermined allocations of items as with traditional pantries, clients of CCFP shop twice every month for what they want/need; this client-choice model fosters relationships while upholding individual dignity.

Crooked Creek Food Pantry relies heavily on its team of dedicated volunteers for services provided at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana and procuring and donating food through other community and business partnerships. Furthermore, having its location within Eskenazi Health Center makes it easier for clinic staff to connect patients who screen positive for food insecurity with additional sources.

Corteva Agriscience (formerly Dow AgroSciences) of Indianapolis donated 600 jars of honey Thursday to Crooked Creek Food Pantry off Michigan Road in Northwest Indianapolis as part of their Harvest for Hunger” garden, where workers plant and harvest fresh produce for donation to area food banks such as Crooked Creek Food Pantry (CCFP). Recently, four beehive colonies were installed so produce could be pollinated locally produced honey to give back to Crooked Creek Food Pantry.