Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - Housing And Community Services, Treasure Coast Food Bank Earn National Award For New Program

St. Lucie County’s Housing and Community Services Department was one of several community partners, including the Treasure Coast Food Bank, that were honored at the first ever national Anti-Hunger Innovation Awards in Washington, D.C. this past weekend.

The program honored grew out of the recently formed Treasure Coast Food Bank’s Hunger Free Community Coalition. The Subcommittee for Transportation was tasked with identifying solutions for low-income residents to access the food resources available in the St. Lucie County. Spearheaded by the St. Lucie County Housing and Community Services department, the subcommittee and its transportation partners identified a creative and easy soultion to implement by forming the Transportation Coordination Network (TCN).

The TCN is a network of transportation providers and funders who provide or pay for trips outside of the transit systems daytime hours; linking residents with soup kitchens, food pantries and other community resources. The Coalition earned a second place Innovation Award for its efforts in addressing local unmet transportation needs.

“This initiative is less than a year old, so it’s extremely encouraging to generate national attention about this innovative program,” said Corine Williams, transit coordinator for St. Lucie County’s Housing and Community Services Department. “It’s really a testament as to what can be accomplished when everyone pulls their resources together.”

Partners involved in the Transportation Coordination Network include:

• ARC of St. Lucie
• Arbor Care
• Community for Independent Living Options
• Community Transit/Treasure Coast Connector
• Children Services Council
• Divine Hands Care
• Elite Charter
• Nativity Group Home Inc.
• Sara’s Kitchen
• Treasure Coast Food Bank
• United Way