Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 46 MARCH 2020 L I V E + P L AY Since 2003, Jessica Walker of Amesbury has been volunteering at Our Neighbors' Table, an Amesbury-based nonprofit organization that provides dignified food assistance to 12 communities in northeastern Essex County. She never imagined that one day she'd need help from Our Neighbors' Table herself, but that's exactly what happened when she lost her job in mid-2019. Despite her long history with the organization, she had trouble allowing herself to ask for help. "I'm usually on the other end," she says. "It took me a while to realize that it's ok." That reason is need. Founded in 1992, Our Neighbors' Table (ONT) provides guests with no-cost grocery markets, grocery delivery and distribution services, a weekly hot community meal, summer lunch programs for school-age kids, holiday programs, emergency food assis- tance, a SNAP food stamp clinic, and more. Walker started by volunteering twice a year with her company, and was so moved by the program that she eventually started serving at ONT twice a month. She continued to volunteer after losing her job. Despite her own hunger and worry, though, she resisted visiting the grocery market, even though she found herself trying to stretch out meals to last her many days. When she finally realized she needed help, she cried in that interview room. Walker isn't alone in feeling shame. Lyndsey Haight, ONT's executive director, recalls a woman who had to decide how to spend the last three dollars she had. "She could either put gas in her car to get to work, or she could go to the drive- through and get her kids dinner," Haight says. It was only when she was up against that wall that she turned to a third option: one of ONT's grocery programs, where she was able to stock up on fresh produce, meats, and other healthy foods for herself and her kids. "ONT is a community-based organization ensuring that all of our community members have access to fresh, nutritious food when and where they need it," says Haight. ONT's programs are carried out mostly by volunteers who cook and serve meals; stock markets; go out and get food from sources like the Greater Boston Food Bank, local retail and food rescue partners; and more than 36 local growers; and sort through food items. Among those volunteers is Robert Murciak of Amesbury, who's been working with ONT for about eight years. He, too, knows what it's like to go without. "I started because when I was a child my father died, and we had no money for about a year. We were destitute," he says. "So I know how it feels to be on the other side." Now, he volunteers four days a week and says it's the best job he's ever had. Unlike typical food banks that often ration food, guests at ONT are free to take whatever they need for their families. Another key dif- ference is ONT's emphasis on fresh food, like fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats, rather than boxed or canned goods. The programs are open to anyone living in the 12 communi- ties ONT serves: Amesbury, Boxford, Byfield, Georgetown, Groveland, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury, South Hamp- ton, and West Newbury. While they might not be cities and towns that people think of when they think of food insecurity—which is defined as lacking reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food—the needs are great. In those communities, one out of every five seniors and one out of eight kids is food insecure, and the community where the most people are affected is Newburyport. While homelessness is a problem, it's far from the only path to food insecurity. In fact, huge numbers of ONT's guests work full-time, but still don't have enough money to make ends meet in an area where the cost of living is so high. That's why ONT is also fighting to remove the stigma around needing food assistance and works to make the programs friendly and and dignified. "We have created a place where people feel safe and accepted," Haight says." Walker agrees. "I was just so grateful that this place exists," she says. PHOTOGRAPHS BY HARMON WESTON CONTACT ourneighborstable.org Our Neighbors' Table feeds our community with dignity. BY ALEX ANDRA PECCI GOOD NEIGHBORS Clockwise from top left, the ONT market; Lyndsey Haight is the executive director of ONT; and volunteers and staff provide families in need with fresh food.