without access to nutritionally adequate foods in the U.S.
in texas alone
Has the largest amount of foodinsecure people in the nation. Ranked #2 for household food insecurity. Spends an estimated $9.8 billion in social costs due to direct and indirect effects of hunger, like lower productivity and increased health care workers.
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Food policy affects all of Texas Hunger & food security in Texas Why a big mac costs less than a salad Food deserts: The scarcity of nutritious food in poor neighborhoods Capital Area Food Bank of Texas facts Heart of Texas Urban Gardening Coalition Garden service sites Waco service agencies
The Hewitt Community Garden is hosted on the grounds of the Hewitt First United Methodist Church. The focus of the Community Garden is to provide garden plots to local non-profit organizations, particularly ones that involve children and youth, such as the scout troops, youth groups, schools and other churches in the area. Each group will be responsible for taking care of the plot, harvesting, watering, and contributing to the general garden area. Within the congregation are Master Gardeners and a Master Composter who serve as consultants on garden matters. The produce that is grown will be sold by respective groups to the community to raise funds for their organization. Groups can also start seedlings to sell locally. The Hewitt Community Garden had a very successful groundbreaking this past December 2010 with about 25 people pitching in to scrape grass off very hard, dry ground, and dig beds – also completing two compost bins. Eagle Scout Jonathan Norkiewicz and friends helped in building the raised gardens beds with concrete blocks and truckloads of compost. In addition to setting up an irrigation system, gardeners have been collecting numerous bags of leaves and raw materials for compost, along with collecting wood chip mulch from the City of Hewitt.
Rebuilt in the late 1990s on the site of one of the original "Grand Neighborhood Schools" of Waco ISD, today's Provident Heights Professional Development School is bordered by Bosque Boulevard, 25th Street, 26th Street and Homan Avenue. The school is home to over 400 students, 50 faculty and staff, and over 150 part-time afterschool tutors, in-school civic clubs volunteers. The school is predominantly attended by economically disadvantaged students from the local Hispanic and African American communities. In 2001, a group of talented teachers and volunteers gathered and began work on an idea that would eventially become the "TexSun" Garden, dedicated in May 2003 following months of planning, and hundreds of hours of volunteer hard labor. The garden was designed to be a “living, learning, outdoor lab and classroom,” used for instruction through a grant program called "Junior Master Gardners." For several years the garden was a vibrant place of seasonal activities and growth. However, during a period of several summers of drought and neglect, the garden became run down and began to be a frequent target for vandals. In the Spring of 2011, a group of students who had not even been in school while the garden was functioning during its prime, began to work to bring the vibrance of the garden back through many long hours of general cleanup, renovation, removal, and rebuilding of different parts of the garden. Today the garden includes a gazebo, a 1500 gallon pond and waterfall that is home to 12 very active fish, including “Nemo, Speckles, Spot, Ghost, Flower”, as well as 24-28 beds.
World Hunger Relief, Inc., was chartered in 1976 by real estate developers Bob and Jan Salley. The Texas, non-profit charter provided for a program in agroforestry and related technologies to address the needs of the hungry, both foreign and domestic. In 1979 Carl Ryther and his family returned to Texas after 17 years of agricultural missions in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). The Salley’s invited Ryther to join World Hunger Relief in 1979 to develop a program to train individuals to address hunger needs around the world. In the following 25 years, WHRI trained over 300 interns working in 20 countries spanning 4 continents. These interns now work for various international organizations promoting sustainable food production and economic development. During his years in Bangladesh, Ryther had developed simple food production systems to address the food needs of the poor following major civil and environmental crises. These systems; which included intensive vegetable production in grow-beds, rabbit husbandry, and agroforestry (Leucaena); were designed to maximize food production in situations of limited land resources. In 1980, Ryther completed a Backyard Food Production Systems training manual which was translated into several languages. In subsequent years, WHRI training was expanded to include sustainable technologies appropriate to developing countries with more extensive resources and production. These systems included alley cropping, larger scale organic vegetable production, drip irrigation, rotational grazing, and additional livestock (chickens, cattle, goats, sheep, bees, and emu). In the mid-1980’s WHRI personnel became active in development programs in Haiti, Guatemala, Mexico, Kenya, and India. Most of these efforts involved agroforestry outreach utilizing the “miracle tree” Leucaena leucocephala. Well digging for irrigation and sanitary drinking water was also a component of many of these programs. The Ferrier, Haiti program is now 25 years old and has led to the formation of a sister organization, World Hunger Relief, Haiti. In our local community, WHRI has addressed hunger issues of low income, elderly and disabled individuals through various community gardening projects. We have also provided training for schools in gardening and composting. Each year we host scores of tours for school and church groups focusing on sustainable agriculture, environmental responsibility and world hunger issues. In 1994, Lee and Kathleen Piche joined WHRI as co-directors working alongside Ryther. During the following nine years, they expanded the program to include a Grade-A goat dairy, dried flower production, and fresh market vegetables organized in a community supported agriculture (CSA) model. They were also instrumental in significant facility improvements including construction of the Carl Ryther Education Building which was completed just before Ryther’s death in 1999.
schools, education , literacy & mentoring Axtell Elementary School 254-863-5419 Bell’s Hill Elementary 254-750-3552 Big Brothers / Big Sisters 254-776-2824 Bledsoe Miller Recreation Center 254-750-8684 Bluebonnet Girl Scouts Council 254-756-4497 Boys & Girls Club 254-752-6443 Carver Academy 254-757-0787 Central Memorial Headstart 254-757-1710 East Waco Library 254-750-8418 H.O.T. Council Boy Scouts 254-772-8932 Lake Air Middle School 254-772-1910 Waco-McLennan County Library 254-750-5974 Parkdale Elementary - Waco Reads 254-754-2665 Rapoport Academy Elementary 254-799-4191 Quinn Campus Middle School 254-754-8000 Meyer High School 254-754-2288 South Waco Branch Library 254-750-5974 Sul Ross Elementary 254-753-1158 Tennyson Middle School 254-741-4965 University High School 254-756-1843 University Middle School 254-753-1533 Waco Montessori School 254-754-3966
food and hunger
Campus Kitchen www.baylor.edu/campuskitchen Caritas of Waco 254-753-4593 Gospel Cafe 254-753-5916 Salvation Army 254-756-7271 World Hunger Relief Inc. 254-799-5611
senior adults
Central Texas Senior Ministry (Meals on Wheels) 254-752-0316 Crestview Manor (Assisted Living) 254-753-0291 Friends for Life (Senior Adult Ministry) 254-772-8100 ext 142 Jeffrey Place Nursing Center 254-772-9480 Stillwell Retirement Residence 254-772-4644
animals
Animal Birth Control Clinic 254-722-2878 Cameron Park Zoo 254-750-8467 Cameron Park Zoological Society 254-750-8424 Fuzzy Friends 254-754-9444 Heart of Texas Therapeutic Riding Center 254-829-0674 Humane Society of Central Texas 254-754-1454
health Services
Bluebonnet Health (Hospice and In-Patient Services) 254-751-1790 CareNet Pregnancy Center 254-772-8270 H.O.T. MHMR Center 254-752-3451 ext 1211 Hillcrest Home Healthcare 254-202-5100 Hillcrest Medical Center 254-2020-4562 Planned Parenthood 254-759-5772 Providence Hospital 254-751-4104 Quality Care of Waco 254-752-0311 ext 221 Veterans Health Care System 254-752-6581 ext 7414
miscellaneous
The Advocacy Center 254-752-9330 Family Abuse Center 254-772-8999 Habitat for Humanity (Baylor Chapter) 254-710-4667 Methodist Children's Home 254-750-1275 Mission Waco 254-753-4900 ext 230 Seeds of Hope (Publishing) 254-755-7745 Special Olympics 254-666-7015 Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 254-772-9305 Talitha Koum 254-753-1144 Waco Center for Youth 254-754-5329 Waco Habitat for Humanity 254.756.7575 Waco Arts Initiative wacoartsinitiative.blogspot.com
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