Riverwest Food Pantry is an organization created by the East Side Housing Action Committee (ESHAC) in an effort to alleviate hunger in the northeast side of Milwaukee. According to Mike Reuter (2006), “ESHAC was formed with the intent to foster tenant action against their landlords. Focused in the current Riverwest neighborhood during the mid to late 1970’s, ESAHC evolved from a housing action group to community revitalization. The result of their activity was the city’s decision to abandon a boulevard project from Locust St., which would have in essence, reconfigured & relocated many individuals and businesses in the Riverwest area.” In addition to the efforts by ESHAC, the committee decided to start a food pantry to help more families in…show more content… As a result, they updated their mission statement to include: “we come together around food to relieve hunger, improve lives and grow community well-being.” An important facet to the success at Riverwest Food Pantry is rooted in their involvement from volunteers who are typically clients themselves. Riverwest Food Pantry utilizes two sites, one at Gaenslen Milwaukee Public School and the other at St. Casimir…show more content… The organization has a religious affiliation which touches on the core elements of the Catholic social teaching. There are different ‘teams’ throughout the organization called: shop, chow, stride and form. TEAM SHOP: deals with facilitating an engaging shopping experience, helping shoppers learn and share cost-effective ways to eat healthier. TEAM CHOW: Sharing food skills and build relationships of personal growth in our community gardens and participatory meal nights. TEAM STRIDE: Connecting pantry recipients to relationships that empower them to prevail over their intractable poverty and training pantry volunteers with methods, knowledge and skills to support those struggling in poverty so that they can prevail. The organization partnered with the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at UWM to build the programming. TEAM FORM: Training volunteers to live service, solidarity, and justice and to become advocates and agents for change. The image below shows how the food pantry intends to impact the community through nutrient rich food. Not only does Riverwest Food Pantry intend to provide food, it also improves food literacy so the families are able to know more about what they are
