Central District Food Bank feeding 1000 people every week during COVID-19

Byrd Barr Place was born in the 1960’s from the recognition that the poor Black neighborhoods of Seattle were chronically under-served by existing services. Our founders within Seattle’s Black community, then based in the Central District, were guided by a vision of equal access to resources and a determination to take bold and transformative action. Our agency, then named the Central Area Motivation Program, was part of the first generation of community-inspired organizations funded by the Economic Opportunity Act. For more than 55 years, Byrd Barr Place has been a community leader and advocate in the fight against the effects of racism and segregation on the region’s African Americans. We continue to be instrumental in combating racial inequity and poverty throughout Seattle by providing an integrated array of basic needs and nutritional services, education resources and financial assistance.

Our programs provide opportunities for extremely low-income residents of Seattle’s historic Central district to access services tailored to their unique needs. This includes those whose income is at or below 125% of federal poverty levels, the under-served, vulnerable populations such as immigrants and refugees, seniors, people with disabilities, and people with poor health and/or limited mobility. Many of the families we serve are often forced to choose between buying food and paying for rent or heat.

Your support provides the resources that we need at this moment to effectively address the systems and structures that perpetuate inequality. Byrd Barr Place has remained open throughout the pandemic, three days each week, our food bank provides fresh produce, cultural staples, meat, dairy products, nonperishable goods, as well as hygiene supplies along with masks and gloves. The food bank serves anyone in need, and BBP also provides home delivery services, since the start of the pandemic we have quadrupled the number of homes receiving home grocery delivery, prioritizing seniors with chronic conditions others that are most vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.

Over the last six months we have seen the demand for the food bank rise by 35%, we are innovating daily to meet this need and hired a third food bank coordinator. We are preparing daily bags of groceries that are always available at the front desk for any clients that are not able to visit during normal Food Bank Distribution hours - no one requesting food service is turned away. We have started numerous new partnerships with small local Washington farmers, Seattle Neighborhood P-Patch gardeners, local restaurants, and the Farmer’s market association to increase the pounds of fresh healthy produce available for our clients. 

 

We are coordinating with our partner organizations to supply extra bags of food to feed their constituents like South Park Senior Center, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, DESC, St. Mary's Place and the residents of neighboring affordable housing complexes like Liberty Bank Building. We expect the demand for the Byrd Barr Place’s direct services programs such as Food Bank, Energy and Rental Financial Assistance to all remain high through the remainder of the year as we continue to see the socioeconomic impact disproportionately affect already marginalized populations. One thing is certain, you can continue to count on Byrd Barr Place to meet our community’s needs during times of crisis. 

Donate to the 2020 Community Enhancement Food Drive Supporting Byrd Barr, Farmer Frog and Mary's Place