Target Hunger

1. Achieve sustainable financial stability & growth

2. Be recognized as an effective community hunger relief model to be emulated elsewhere in the USA

3. Optimize human & physical infrastructure

1. Achieve sustainable financial stability & growth
- Systematically improve donor engagement to build a culture of philanthropy yielding renewable unrestricted funding
- Strengthen grant-writing systems to grow philanthropic resources
- Study earned revenue opportunities in support of TH mission; Implement if appropriate

2. Be recognized as an effective community hunger relief model to be emulated elsewhere in the USA
- Increase visibility, awareness & differentiation of TH brand in important markets
- Demonstrate & improve program success though an assessment program that measures qualitative & quantitative outcomes; Research optimal client results
- Enhance strategic partnerships to address the “root causes” of hunger
- Develop & expand nutrition & garden programs

3. Optimize human & physical infrastructure
- Conduct staffing needs assessment
- Study all facility needs including showcase garden/pantry/program space

Target Hunger addresses food insecurity in northeast Houston, both by meeting an immediate need through distribution of nutritious food and by addressing poverty, the underlying cause of food insecurity.

Our program is unique both because of its size and its programs designed to alleviate the root causes of poverty.

Target Hunger is one of the Houston Food Bank's largest distribution partners. In 2019, we served 20,000 unduplicated clients through our pantry distributions, food fairs, at-home deliveries, and partner programs. By June 2020, we had already seen nearly 17,000 unduplicated clients.

Food distributions happen in the following ways:
- At pantry sites throughout our service area, including community centers, apartment complexes, and religious institutions.
- Through in-home delivery to seniors and people with disabilities who are unable to leave the house.
- At food fairs at schools and other community sites in partnership with a range of social service agencies.
- As emergency food packs for individuals who need nutrient-dense, portable food during challenging times.

We maintain a community garden that produces fresh, nutritious produce that is distributed to our clients throughout the year. In order to address the need for more urban gardens that are sustainable and do not rely on ground soil, Target Hunger is building an extensive above the ground crate garden in the unused area of our large parking area at our headquarters on Shotwell Street. This will transform the space into a lush container garden site that is anticipated to be fully functional by January 2021.

Our client Navigation Service capabilities and partner programs have given us a way to have long-term impact on our community. We are in the process of training more staff to earn the state's Community Health Worker credential so that at every interaction with clients, these staff can help evaluate what connections to social service programs can help clients stabilize their finances, home life, and health, all of which will reduce their risk of long-term food insecurity. Our partner programs demonstrate how non-profit agencies can collaborate effectively to greatly improve client outcomes.

Target Hunger partners with four key agencies that demonstrate how intensive collaboration can break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. We work closely with the Houston Health Department’s Community Re-Entry Program, Urban Enrichment Institute, 5th Ward Head Start Program, and SERjobs, pairing food distribution with job training and life skills.

Achieve sustainable financial stability & growth by growing unrestricted funding:
10% by 12/31/2020
25% by 12/31/2021
50% by 12/31/2022
- Create Earned Revenue Task Force by 12/31/2020
- Recommendation & Board report by 6/30/2021

Be recognized as an effective community hunger relief model to be emulated elsewhere in the USA
- Create Marketing Committee & RFP for marketing plan by 5/31/ 2020
- Create Program Evaluation Task Force by 1/30/2020.
- Invigorate the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process & begin conducting data-driven client outcome assessments by 12/30/2020
- Develop a partnership strategy that includes considerations for growth, process, & outcomes by 12/30/21

Optimize human & physical infrastructure
- Establish Staffing Needs Assessment Task Force & report to board: Current status by 3/30/2020; Future needs by 6/30/2021
- Create Facility Task Force by 11/30/2020 Recommendation & Board report by 11/30/2021
- Create Garden Futures Task Force by 3/1/20; Recommendation & Board report by 6/30/2020