BCC: Cultivating Partnerships and Trust in their Community
Boerne Community Coalition is an all-volunteer operated organization that works in partnership with countless organizations in the city of Boerne who all share the same vision – “children in our community should not be at risk of being hungry”. This coalition implements multi-sector organizational structure (a Hunger Free Communities best practice) and relies on the involvement and participation of different groups in Boerne including churches, Boerne ISD, the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA and so
much more. By working with many groups, they follow another THI best practice: an asset-based approach; they focus on issue development that builds off existing resources in place in the community. An example of this is their involvement with the “Blessings in a Backpack” program that provides elementary schoolchildren in Boerne with a backpack of food to take home for 38 weekends during the school year. The coalition steps in and helps feed these kids when the program is unable to, like the first couple of weeks of the school year, during the summer, and to a non-ISD preschool.
From all this, it shouldn’t be a surprise that feeding kids is one of the biggest things they do. One of the first events they implemented was using a food truck and bringing summer lunches to 8 “pockets” of poverty previously identified, but their efforts were not as successful as they hoped. However, the involvement of a church and their relationship within the neighborhoods and their residents proved to be the key to garnering the trust of those they hoped to serve. This summer, because of a longstanding relationship within one of the neighborhoods, they began a summer outreach program and delivered up to 47 lunches each weekday, provided Hearts of Love weekend food bags on Fridays, and hosted a picnic, story time and craft with the Public Library on Wednesdays. In all, they found that actively seeking the right people who were trusted in a community, helped them overcome a huge barrier to providing for those in need. They now partner with local enrichment programs and camps to provide scholarships and encourage families to enroll their children. This
summer alone, over 4,400 lunches, 1,000 weekend food bags, and 100 scholarships were provided to qualifying children enrolled in 11 partner camps and programs, which includes the neighborhood outreach, a church youth group, and a daily sign up at the Public Library.
Author: Brooke Dal Santo
10/7/2019
