Food for Others, Inc.

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

Food for Others currently serves children and families struggling with food insecurity throughout Northern Virginia. Many of the families we serve are experiencing sudden changes to their financial circumstances, such as the loss of a job or unexpected health bills. Our clients are also often recent immigrants who are struggling to afford the high costs of living in Northern Virginia. A significant portion, around 22%, of the families we serve have children. Residents over 55 also tend to have high rates of food insecurity due to financial and health barriers. During FY 2021, 24.8% of the clients we served were over 55.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Suggestion box/email,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

In response to client surveys, we identified a strong interest in delivery. Many clients commented in the open ended portion of our survey that transportation was a potential barrier to access. We initiated delivery in collaboration with DoorDash in May of 2022. Delivery currently serves high need clients. We're also in the process of expanding. We're opening a new space, called My Market, in January 2022. My Market will enable clients to choose their select food items in a grocery store like environment. We hope that the change will make seeing food assistance feel more empowering and welcoming. In the process of envisioning the space, we've surveyed past clients on what resources they'd like to see in the space. Our vision of the new space has been shaped by client feedback.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

Our staff, Our board, Our funders,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

Asking for feedback from our clients has inspired us to reevaluate our system for food distribution. We've altered our sorting mechanism to reduce the likelihood of bad quality food going out to clients. Our warehouse staff members advise volunteers on how to sort, both cans and produce, to ensure clients can access fresh food. We've also utilized client survey responses in the development of our new client-choice market space. We're opening the new space in January of 2022, and we're prioritizing the cultivation of an empowering environment.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,