Food assistance is only the beginning of the need in Cleveland
Cleveland Fed president and chief executive officer Beth M. Hammack toured the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s Community Resource Center and learned more about the barriers the organization is breaking down to increase access to a range of services in addition to food assistance.
One in seven people in Northeast Ohio is food insecure. That’s one of the statistics the staff of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank (GCFB) shared with Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack when she visited the organization’s Community Resource Center (CRC) in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood in December.
On the day that Hammack visited, dozens of community members lined up to access the CRC’s food market hours before it opened, as is usually the case on days that it is open, according to GCFB staff.
President Hammack in the CRC's food market with Tiffany Scruggs, the CRC’s executive director (December 4, 2024)
In the year since the CRC opened, the GCFB said it has provided food assistance for more than 47,000 people—about half of whom are children and seniors—and distributed 4 million pounds of food.
Hammack tours the CRC's food-storage warehouse (December 4, 2024)
GCFB staff said they estimate that about 80 percent of people who visit the CRC come for food assistance. However, because the center is set up as a one-stop shop to make it easier for clients to access additional services, people often also get medical or other help while they wait for food assistance, according to GCFB staff.
Cleveland Fed research has shown that being food insecure can be associated with a variety of negative physical and mental health outcomes and poorer educational outcomes.1
More than a dozen organizations offer a wide variety of services at the CRC. These organizations and services include a MetroHealth federally qualified health center, the Diaper Bank of Greater Cleveland, Shoes and Clothes for Kids, housing and utility assistance, the United Way’s 211 referral services, a range of employment assistance services from organizations like Ohio Means Jobs and Towards Employment, and other resources.
Hammack is shown the MetroHealth clinic's telemedicine machine (December 4, 2024)
Hammack listens to GCFB CEO Kristin Warzocha explain the demand for Shoes and Clothes for Kids (December 4, 2024)
According to the GCFB, the demand for regional food bank assistance is at its highest level ever, and over the past year, about 18 percent of people who received food at the CRC were doing so for the first time.
Cleveland Fed research has shown that, in many parts of the Fourth District, demand for food bank assistance has risen and is above national levels.2 Food bank use rose during the pandemic, and demand has continued to increase since the end of pandemic-related benefits and amid rising food, gas, and housing costs.3
About President Beth M. Hammack’s Around the District tour
President Hammack is visiting communities across the Fourth District as part of her Around the District tour to meet and connect with the people who live and work in all corners of the region and to gain a better understanding of how the economy is working in different communities. The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Hammack will use this information to inform her policy views and better represent the Fourth District around the Federal Open Market Committee table.
Footnotes
- Piazza, Merissa. 2023. “Food Insecurity Revisited.” Notes from the Field. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. November 20, 2023. https://www.clevelandfed.org/publications/notes-from-the-field/2023/nftf-20231120-food-insecurity-revisited. Return to 1
- Piazza, Merissa. 2023. “Food Insecurity Revisited.” Notes from the Field. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. November 20, 2023. https://www.clevelandfed.org/publications/notes-from-the-field/2023/nftf-20231120-food-insecurity-revisited. Return to 2
- Piazza, Merissa. 2023. “Food Insecurity Revisited.” Notes from the Field. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. November 20, 2023. https://www.clevelandfed.org/publications/notes-from-the-field/2023/nftf-20231120-food-insecurity-revisited. Return to 3
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Learn about the work of the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Beth M. Hammack
Beth M. Hammack is the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, one of 12 regional Reserve Banks in the Federal Reserve System.
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (commonly known as the Cleveland Fed) is part of the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States.