Carson City non-profit eases food insecurity burden with mobile, drive-through food trucks

Food insecurity and poverty is an increasing problem in the United States, and has been exacerbated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Feeding America, a national non-profit with a mission to help those in food insecure situations, has released 2021 figures in their attempt to analyze food disparity and how the pandemic has affected individuals on a national and local level.

According to their COVID-19 companion study, updated in March of this year, Nevada ranked eighth overall for highest projected overall food insecurity rates in 2021 at 15.2 percent. This is a decrease from 17.1 percent in 2020, where Nevada ranked fifth in the nation for overall food insecurity.

Food insecurity is likely to recover post-pandemic, Feeding America said in their data conclusion, but it could take years. However, a local organization called the Northern Nevada Dream Center is here to assist in relieving Carson City food insecurity and beyond.

Established in 2010 by Susan Sorenson and her late husband, the NNCD became a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2014. Sorenson said she saw the need for a food pantry in this community, which inspired her to open a food pantry.

“I really feel it was a calling on my life,” Sorenson said. “I raised three sons here in Carson and in the process of raising them and seeing their friends struggle with poverty, addiction and just living in the community, I started to realize the need that was around me and felt compelled to do something about it.”

According to Sorenson, NNDC is a faith-driven organization. While mostly volunteer-based, with 280 volunteers, the food pantry began to take on a part-time staff as of two years ago. Some serve two hours a month, while others give 10-15 hours a week.

“I feel like people who serve like that have a heart for what we do,” Sorenson said of her staff and volunteer-base.

When COVID hit last spring, NNDC was considered an essential business and never closed its doors to the public. According to Sorenson, staffing was a crucial part of keeping operations afloat.

“We basically converted our on-site pantry to a drive-through model and we continued our mobile food trucks and home deliveries with some tweaks for COVID,” Sorenson said. “Of course we’re following all of the guidelines. We have not had any trouble with COVID, or any illnesses with our volunteers or staff.”

While home deliveries were a part of NNDC’s services pre-pandemic, Sorenson said food truck deliveries became top priority once those recipients of deliveries, mostly an elder population, couldn’t leave their houses or had no access to transportation.

“We work hard not to duplicate services,” Sorenson said. “We work to see needs, then work to meet those. Most of what we do is mobile in the community.”

Currently, five food trucks are available to travel and serve these in Carson, Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties. As of right now, the on-site food pantry is only open three days a month because a bigger need is for the mobile food trucks, Sorenson said.

“We try to fill the gaps and reach the people that might not be able to get to that pantry that’s open during the week,” Sorenson said. “(Food trucks) would be in areas of need like apartment complexes, and sometimes we’ll also have pop-up food trucks just at sites throughout the city. We have regular sites that we go to every month.”

Regular monthly sites in Carson City include University Heights Apartments, Southgate Apartments, Parkway Plaza Apartments, and Foothill Garden Apartments. The Gardnerville site is located at Wink’s Silver Strike Lanes bowling center.

New sites are coming this summer to Mark Twain Elementary School and Indian Hills. According to Sorenson, pop-up locations are determined as needed.

During January 2020, NNDC was feeding around 12-1300 people a month, Sorenson said. Early in the pandemic last spring, the food pantry saw upward of 2200 people coming in for food. Today, numbers have stayed consistent around 17-1800 people served.

“The people we saw at the height of the pandemic coming through were people you wouldn’t expect to come through our pantry,” Sorenson said. “As people lost jobs, for a lot of people, it was their first time ever going to a food pantry.”

Sorenson described the initial shock of the pandemic as heart-wrenching, not only because of the sudden increase of patrons to feed, but how uncertain times felt early last spring.

“I mean the whole pandemic was new to all of us, so there was a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety,” Sorenson said. “We worked hard to calm people’s fears as they came through to purge them. We’re faith-based too, so if people asked us, we’d pray with them. It was an opportunity to be a greater support than just handing out food.”

NNDC delivery truck drivers also have an opportunity to make an impact on individuals, Sorenson said. Drivers can refer services like FISH, Spirit of Hope, Carson City Senior Center, Do Drop In, Ron Wood Family Resource Center, Carson City Health and Human Services, Davita Dialysis, R.S.V.P., and the Nevada Division of Aging and Disabilities to individuals as the need emerges.

“Just having a friendly face, and this is true even without the pandemic happening, a lot of people live alone,” Sorenson said. “They don’t have a car, they don’t have a way to get out and about in town, so sometimes our delivery drivers are the only people they see for the whole week. It’s about delivering food and meeting that need, but it’s also about emotional, spiritual support.”

Those interested can sign-up for mobile deliveries by calling the Dream Center at (775) 443-4090, ext. 1 for the mobile home delivery program. The delivery coordinator will then conduct an interview to see if an individual qualifies for their delivery services.

According to Sorenson’s local information from Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” data, Nevada is among the top three states for the largest increase in the food insecurity rate in between 2018 and 2020.

“I’d say it’s accurate and reflects what we’re seeing in the community,” Sorenson said. “In the four counties we serve, two of the four counties are two percent higher than the rate for the whole state.”

For example, Sorenson said the projected food insecurity increase from 2018-2020 for Carson County is 29 percent. With 12-1300 being served at NNDC in January 2020 to serving 17-1800 on a regular basis currently, that is more than a 29 percent increase.

“That’s because of our model too, it’s really important for us to fill the gaps,” Sorenson said. “(We) find people who aren’t being served through traditional pantries because of economic or transportation disparities. As we seek them out, I think we’re revealing, or at least reaching, some of those people that are part of that increase.”

According to Sorenson, the bulk of the food handed out at the NNDC pantry comes from the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. A number of churches in town also give monthly support by giving food, as well as the NNDC’s ability to do grant writing in order to purchase food.

“When stuff goes to the pantry, or delivery, or on the food truck, our goal is to hand that family a week’s worth of meals,” Sorenson said. “We try to do complete meals, so when we get money through the virtual food drive, or through grants, then we buy food that makes that complete meal.”

NNDC conducted a virtual food drive during the height of the pandemic and is still taking donations, Sorenson said. The money goes towards leveraging food that is then given back to those in need at the pantry and in the food trucks. The virtual food drive can be found on their website here.

“The virtual food drive and those dollars are important because the goal is to also provide healthy food and help people become food secure and understand how to eat healthy and how to manage their resources well,” Sorenson said. “We’re not just addressing insecurity, but creating food security.”

In addition to NNDC’s work with food insecurity, the organization also offers other resources through their brick and mortar location on Hwy. 50 East, Sorenson said. A workplace training program called DC Hire is open for public access.

According to Sorenson, DC Hire includes an on-site computer lab where individuals can study for their high school equivalency exams, learn Microsoft Office programs, and even learn to navigate computers, iPads, and cell phones.

Carson City’s homeless population is also increasing and people are looking for a hot meal, Sorenson said. The pantry has taken action by providing emergency shelter and tailored food for those individuals who walk through their doors.

“We have heater meals, which are entrees with a built-in heater,” Sorenson said. “We were able to leverage some grant money as we saw that need increase. Someone who is unhoused, they can walk away with a hot meal that they can eat anywhere.”

To learn more about DC Hire, the food pantry, and other programs through NNDC, click here.