Valley Outreach aids families in crisis, and provides support services for both immediate and long-term assistance. We seek to move our clients towards self-sufficiency. Our clients look to us to help piece together the puzzles of their lives. Often, they are impacted severely by a job loss or a major medical incident, then further impacted by other situations beyond their control such as the high cost of housing in our community. By offering access to free, nutritious, high quality food; access to free clothing and access to once-a-year emergency financial assistance, we can free up the little cash with which our clients operate. For example, accessing, at a minimum, 7-10 days worth of food, is a budget reliever and clients are able to use cash, otherwise spent on food, for other needs. For some clients, they will only use our services a handful of times, needing additional help to make ends meet for a few months. For others, perhaps on a limited income due to disability, we will be a consistent source of support in their individual budgets.

When a client comes to us for food support (the food shelf is our largest program), we know that there if often a need for more than food. Poverty is messy, whether it is longer-term poverty, or situational poverty. In our suburban community, a greater percentage of our clients experience situational poverty – lack of income caused by a gap between jobs or a major medical occurrence that devastates a closely watched household budget. Once we meet the basics of food and clothing, we can work with clients at a deeper level, connecting them to other supports through our newest program, Resource Advising. We are also able to offer limited financial assistance for those who meet the criteria. We carry out our work in a non-judgmental and welcoming manner, ensuring the dignity of those we serve.

In our food shelf, we give out more than double the state average for days of food support. We typically can allow 7-10 days worth of food for a household, where the average is 3-5 days. We are well supported in our community through “retail rescue" or food that is just at or just past expiration. Local stores donate their overstock and retail rescue to us, allowing us to pass on high quality, perishable items (produce, deli, meat) to clients. We also participate with our local food bank, stocking our warehouse with shelf stable canned and dried goods that we purchase at a rate greatly reduced from that of a typical grocery store. We can leverage $8-$10 worth of buying power for every $1 donated. Our clothing program is the only free program for families in our community. Regardless of family size, we are usually able to outfit a family ranging from infants to teens to adults. With the exception of new socks and underwear, all the clothing is gently used and in excellent condition, donated by community members.

The St. Croix Valley doesn't exactly top the list when we discuss poverty. Many of us think of more vivid examples reflected over the years - rural, Appalachian communities or urban, crowded, metropolitan areas. However, in our community, we have a story of suburban poverty. The dynamics of “place" and the issues that affect families and individual are different here than in our sister communities in greater Minnesota or directly within the boundaries of the Twin Cities. We look at the potential need in our community using data provided by a Hunger Free MN study. We are concerned with two metrics, the number of food insecure individuals and the number of individuals living below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Comparing our service area statistics and those we supported in 2014, we are serving 86% of the food insecure population and 51% of the individuals below 200% of federal poverty guidelines. These statistics, for a social service organization such as ours, demonstrate excellent coverage of community needs. Another indicator that tells a story is the number of new clients. Last year, 42% of our clients came to Valley Outreach for the first time ever. This underscores the story of both situational and suburban poverty. Finally, we continue to see increases in the numbers served. In our Food Shelf, the number of households served increased by 54. 8%. And our Emergency Fund saw a 5% increase in dollars to 12% more individuals than the prior year.

Tremendous progress has taken place in our Food Shelf. A partnership called Better Shelf for Better Health, created with our local hospital, led to the rearrangement of the physical food shelf layout (starting with produce vs. bakery) while increasing the quantities of fruits and vegetables available. Currently, 88% of our clients receive more than half their produce from us and have shared, through surveys, their continued interest in eating healthier. We created two new food shelf programs in the last two years. The first is Snack Pack, a weekend program for children eligible for free and reduced meals in our school system. Children take home, directly from school, a bag of snack and meal items for the weekend. These kids, while not typically starving, live in food insecure environments, meaning that consistent access to food is not assured. The other program in Mobile Choice - home delivery of groceries from our food shelf. For those who are unable to get to our site due to disability, medical concerns or lack of transportation, they can, once a month, have their household food delivered.