Food Shelf Closing, New Partnership Begins

This month, our small on-campus food shelf is winding down operations, and will be closing by March 31st, 2025. For several years, this food shelf has primarily served residents in our Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) program and guests exiting our shelter, helping to address food insecurity among Our Saviour’s Housing participants.   

The decision to close our food shelf was not made lightly. Several factors considered when making this decision include accessibility concerns related to the food shelf’s location, along with needs to prioritize staff time, volunteer resources, and organizational funds for our core programs. We also saw opportunities for food access to be one way we live into our strategic goal of deepening community connections. 

Before arriving at the decision to close our food shelf, we began looking for ways to strengthen relationships with local organizations that focus on food accessibility, ensuring our residents continue to have reliable access to food. This exploration led to a new partnership between Our Saviour’s Community Services and Community Emergency Service (CES), which will expand pathways for our PSH residents to access food from CES’s “Food Market” beginning April 1st. 

Community Emergency Service has specialized in addressing food insecurity in the Phillips neighborhood for over 50 years and is positioned well to support our participants’ food needs. We are grateful to have this community asset half a mile from our campus. We are currently working with CES on creating sustainable systems for our residents and case managers that will provide much, if not all, of the flexibility that our on-campus food shelf has provided. Through this partnership, we can maximize existing community resources, work toward shared goals, and avoid competing with another food shelf in our neighborhood for limited financial and volunteer resources necessary to support this work. 

Angela Versalles, who has served as Property & Food Shelf Manager with OSCS will continue her role as Property Manager. 

If you have any questions about this transition, please reach out to robin@oscs-mn.org for more information. If you would like to support this transition, please consider learning about volunteer opportunities with CES.