South Dallas summer camp tackles food gap with free meals

From KERA News:

For many North Texas families, summer break means a few months of fun and freedom. For others, the season is a battle with food insecurity.

When schools close for the summer, the meals many students rely on throughout the year end, leaving families in search of resources to fill the gap.

In Texas, nearly one in five children live in a food-insecure household, and summer break only heightens the situation.

Some school districts like Dallas ISD follow regulations to provide free meals through a summer meal program. They aim to target not only families in the school district, but the entire Dallas community.

“We want to ensure that all students and the community children are all well-nourished throughout the summer and that they’re ready to learn when they come back in the fall,” Melinda Hillis, assistant director of food services, said.

But some communities lack other resources like transportation or the finances for daycare, making food programs hard to take advantage of. They need more support to tackle food insecurities for their kids.

One North Texas organization has taken on the responsibility of providing the resources needed to make summer easier.

Bridge Builders is a nonprofit that works to restore and empower the South Dallas Bonton community. The organization focuses on resources like food access, housing, rehabilitation and transportation to ensure viable living in the neighborhood.

The Bonton neighborhood is what’s known as a food desert — an area without a full-service grocery store within a mile radius. That lack of access to fresh foods means many residents are vulnerable to health problems.

For about 30 years, Bridge Builders has provided a free seven-week summer camp program where about 50 kids a day get to enjoy summer activities supported by the YMCA, Dallas Museum of Art, and Girl Scouts – as well as free breakfast, lunch and a snack.

“Summer break is a long time to be without something,” Porcha Ensley, director of student services, said.

This is Ensley’s third year working in the summer program. She’s been able to see how it can take off a burden off of parents. The camp keeps the kids active mentally and physically while making sure to connect with them on a personal level.

“Being able to have an organization to come alongside you and to partner with you,” Ensley said, “gives parents a sigh of relief.”

Ensley believes the food gap affects more than just students. Bridge Builders keeps its doors open beyond the camp to all kids in the Bonton neighborhood for free food year-round.

“We think about being able to provide at least 20% of our meals to kids in the neighborhood as well,” Ensley said.

Addressing summer food insecurity is a community effort, she said. Many families are looking for supportive programs like this to be able to balance taking care of their kids and work.

That’s why Gabrielle Mathis chose to be a camp counselor for the first time this summer. She grew up in South Dallas and wanted to challenge herself by working with kids to lend a helping hand to parents.

“I feel like that’s why summer camps were made and after school programs were made to give the parents a break,” Mathis said.

Mathis has seen the positive changes she’s making for the kids in the Bonton neighborhood, and she hopes the effort continues to expand.

Organizations like Bridge Builders are supported by the Texas Department of Agriculture, which provides communities funding for food access year-round. The department oversees meal programs in schools to ensure that children have access to healthy food and administers food assistance programs for low-income families, such as the Texas Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.

The ag department also operates summer meal programs like the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) that provide meals at no cost so kids continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session.

“There’s hungry kids everywhere in the state,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. “So, we don’t want to leave any of them out.”

All the programs work with community organizations, as well as schools, churches, and service clubs to provide farm fresh foods for those in need.

But this summer, Miller said the department is stressing partnerships with rural communities to fully target all areas of Texas.

“If we can start by someone running, we’ll partner with any community, no matter what the size is,” Miller said.

Efforts from groups like Bridge Builders ensure that all kids have access to healthy meals during the summer, but director Porcha Ensley said it’s much more than that.

“The best way that I like to describe it to my community is that Bridge Builders is a hub,” she said. “It’s a resource hub.”

But for kids like 10-year-old Kimora Hill, the camp is just a way to have fun.

“It’s my favorite thing of summer because you get to wake up early and get ready and get to go somewhere,” she said. “Then, when as soon as you get here, you get to do fun stuff.”

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