Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater is asking the county council to approve $2.5 million for a new nonprofit grant and emergency funds for food banks.

The request included $1.5 million in one-time funds to support local nonprofits through a new HEART grant program. Standing for Helping Empower Area Resources Together, the grant would allow people-facing organizations to request up to $50,000 in funding.

This also included a request for $1 million in emergency funds to be provided to local food banks to keep shelves stocked amidst an increase in service-use caused by the federal shutdown.

A map of Frederic County’s foodbanks can be found on the county website.

If approved, the county will help local nonprofits through the grant application process. Both proposals will be reviewed by the county council at the next public meeting on Tuesday at Winchester hall (1, 2).

Working Together

There are more than 12,000 federal employees that call Frederick home, according to Fitzwater, and more than 4,700 government jobs located within the county itself.

Wednesday night marked the end of the longest government shutdown in US history, but Fitzwater said she’s worried it will take years to recover from the damage. “What’s happening in Washington shows a complete disregard for the value of public service and it is causing irreparable harm for people in our community,” Fitzwater argued.

Even as the shutdown ends, Fitzwater says the impacts are already being felt locally. As Frederick heads into the winter seasons, she explained the HEART grant and emergency food bank funds will help keep shelves stocked and get resources to where they are needed most.

Fitzwater admitted the Frederick County Government can’t meet the needs of residents alone and emphasized the importance of community partnerships. “We do this work in partnership because [the] government alone cannot meet all of our community’s needs, but we absolutely have an obligation to do our part,” Fitzwater said. “Based on my conversations with my colleagues on the county council, I know they are hearing from our shared constituents and they stand ready to help.”

Local Food Banks

Michele Ott is Frederick City’s Assistant Director of Client Services at Housing and Human Services, and has worked with the city since 1995. Her motivation has been helping residents who don’t know about the available services be able to attain stability in their lives.

Ott currently works at the City of Frederick Maryland Food Bank. She says they’ve seen a 36% increase in new households using their services over the first two weeks of November when compared to the same time last year. “They’re SNAP benefits were cut, or they were furloughed from the government,” Ott explained.

Elysia Drummer, Frederick City’s Supervisor of Food and Nutrition Services, has been working with the city for almost one week and has a background with other food banks. Despite the strain being put on the system as demand for food support services increases, Drummer said Frederick residents have stepped up. “In the last month, we’ve seen a large increase in the donations that we’re receiving,” Drummer said. “We hope those donations continue to come in so that we can continue to support our clients…through the winter months and into next year.”

Ott hopes that additional funding from the county will help the food bank keep their shelves stocked through the spring and summer. She says there’s commonly a drop in donations around that time.

Drummer highlighted that certain key food items, like fresh or frozen meats and other proteins, are donated far less often. She says the emergency fund would help them target those items families need most.

Ott said Seniors, who may live on a fixed income, have proven to be one of the predominant communities who have been affected by the government shutdown, besides the government workers themselves. Without SNAP, they are struggling to afford food.

Shame and Stigma

Over the last several weeks, Ott has seen many families come through their doors that have never used their services before. For some of those families, Ott said they bring with them a sense of shame. “There is that stigma of, ‘People only use food banks because they’re poor,’ which isn’t the case,” Ott argues.

Many families are just one paycheck away from needing assistance, Ott clarified, and even finds some households turning down help for the sake of others. “I’ve actually had people say to me, ‘I don’t want to use that because there are people out there who need it more than me,’” Ott admitted.

Ott wants to be able to serve everyone who would need their services and doesn’t want anyone to feel ashamed to ask for help.