Compass is navigating the food fight

Compass Community Health Centre in Hamilton’s North End is battling food insecurity through a range of programs targeting vulnerable populations.

In vulnerable communities, food security is fundamental to health, family well-being and community-building, and in the North End of Hamilton, all roads lead to Compass Community Health Centre. 

The centre has been firmly rooted in community health since opening its doors on Hughson Street North in 1987. But its impact goes well beyond its neighbourhood. Clients come from all over the city and the facility is a beehive of activity every day. 

There are primary care providers – family physicians, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, respiratory educators, welcome baby programs – and a broad range of mental health supports, social workers, client advocates and positive spaces, along with specialty clinics in foot health, rehabilitation, chronic disease management for those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and asthma.

Compass also provides a range of education programs for high school students living in low-income households and under the banner of community health programs, a whole host of food security programs for everyone from kids just starting school to seniors struggling to put food on the table to trans people living in poverty. 

Compass’s approach is one of wraparound care, including doctors or dietitians who can refer patients experiencing food insecurity to a health promoter administering innovative programs. Compass is a large and diverse team of about 150 people. 

The effects of inflation have landed hard at Compass’s doorstep.

Program administrators see it across the centre’s offerings. Children are taking more food to go from the daily breakfast program because they don’t have a lunch to take to school. Seniors come to monthly lunches having not yet eaten that day. 

More families are asking for food vouchers. 

“The statistics are real but they are all real people who are struggling,” says Mariko Bown-Kai, a community development worker. 

“It's great that we are doing this work, and it is a privilege to be able to help people, but at the same time, we shouldn't have to … Why is it that food is so expensive, and who has the power to control how expensive food is? Food doesn't have to be exponentially more expensive every year.”

We talk about food insecurity, she says, but not nearly enough about how economic structures create these conditions.

“People aren't just hungry for no reason, and so it's difficult because we are just treating a symptom of a much larger problem.”

Food banks and community gardens aren’t the answer. Solutions, she says, are in higher wages, universal income and limits on corporate profits in the food sector.

But in the meantime, Compass continues to help people avoid having to choose between rent and groceries. Programs often emerge from client and community surveys and from discussions at an annual community barbecue.

“We get to know the needs that are out there,” says Leah Janzen, a community development worker who specializes in food security programs. 

“These programs are sustainable because they run on very low budgets. Our gardening programs have donated seeds and the community fridge, there was a startup grant, but it doesn't cost us anything to keep that running,” says Janzen. 

“So it's finding these ways that are sustainable, because it's so hard with grants to get long-term funding, so we kind of have to be creative with our programs. And I think that's the really cool piece about gardening and growing food, is that it is low cost.”

The provision of enough healthy food is essential on so many levels. When kids are hungry, they can’t learn in school. When adults don’t eat properly, they are more prone to disease. 

“I see food security measures as being preventative,” says Autumn Getty, a community development worker for the LGBTQIA+ population. “I mean they do cost money, but think about how much less money they cost than treatment in the health system, or in mental health services.” 

The newest and perhaps most innovative program taking direct aim at food insecurity at Compass is FVRx, which sees recipients receive a prescription for a subsidized produce box every other week. 

The program began in 2022 and is unique in Hamilton. It served more than 60 clients last year.

Compass doctors or dietitians write produce prescriptions for patients who struggle with chronic diseases like diabetes and would otherwise not be able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables, which have leaped in price in the last two years. 

Patients pay just $10 for each box, which is typically enough to last a single person two weeks. Produce is sourced and packaged by local online grocery store MRKTBOX.

Compass, which changed its name from the North Hamilton Community Health Centre in 2019, relies on grants and donations to keep the program running, says Janzen.

“It serves a big need. When the Good Food Box closed down during the pandemic and didn’t reopen, it was a big loss in the Hamilton community. A lot of clients at Compass used to receive that, so we had to figure out a way to carry on. We’re seeing a lot of clients with diet-related diseases, and they're not able to afford fresh produce.”

Research led to the idea of produce prescriptions, which have become common in the United States, but not yet in Canada. 

“I know Justin (Abbiss) from MRKTBOX and he was totally on board. It impacts food security and also nutrition and also healthcare.”

Children’s Breakfast Club and Tastebuds

Every school day, from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., kids and sometimes their families come to Compass’s kitchen for a filling breakfast.

Compass’s program serves a different hot item each day, including burritos, scrambled eggs, and pizza bagels, along with cereal, yogurt and fresh fruit. A trio of volunteers on a Thursday morning is cooking several dozen egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches and they have it down to a science. 

Liz Richardson and Dave Popiez have been volunteering since they first visited Compass a decade ago through Team Orange, ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s volunteer squad. 

“It’s become a big part of our week,” says Popiez. “We’ve met wonderful people through this program.”

It’s fulfilling because children are able to go to school ready to learn, says Richardson, as kids come up to the serving window to place their orders. “It’s just so important that they start off their day with good food.”

The Compass program is one of the few community sites of Hamilton Tastebuds, a program of the Student Nutrition Collaborative that provides 123 school nutrition programs at 110 locations across the city.

Though the numbers may be small, the breakfast program at Compass is vital, Tastebuds program manager Bhairavi Kumar.

“That community knows that there's a program where you will not be asked any questions. You just drop in. It's a welcoming environment. You come, sit, eat and then drop off your kid at school, and then head home with your dignity.”

Kumar started as a community development worker at its inception as a pilot project in 2008. At the time, the program covered school nutrition programs in 13 priority schools. The idea was to pull together a patchwork of food programs provided by churches and community agencies into a comprehensive and standardized initiative. 

During the 2023-2024 school year, the program served about 3.1 million meals and snacks to an average of more than 23,000 kids a day. There is no registration required. Every student in a school has access to the food that is offered, so there is no stigma attached to participation.

“I've been doing this for 18 years now, and the guiding principle is universality,” says Kumar.

But that is not easy. It costs $1.75 to feed each child a day but Tastebuds gets just 15 cents per child per day from the province. That funding hasn’t increased in 10 years and the gap has to be filled by fundraising, grant writing, and donations of food and cash.

“You name it, we do it all. A very small team of people do it; two and a half community development workers and a half manager.” The staff, who are each directly responsible for about 45 program locations, rely on about 300 volunteers, including teachers, principals, parents and community members, to run the program. 

The rapid rise in food costs over the last few years has only deepened the challenge. Tastebuds was among those calling for a national school food program, noting that Canada is the only G7 country without one. In April 2024, the federal government announced it would make a $1 billion investment over five years. That is expected to provide meals for an additional 400,000 kids a year

“Is it enough? No, it's not, but it's a good start and it's a recognition that this needs more attention,” says Kumar.

But Kumar says she’s not yet received any federal money or even confirmation of the amount that will come. But she’s hopeful it will allow Tastebuds to provide food programs in schools on its waiting list. 

“There’s hunger in Ancaster and Dundas and Waterdown,” says Kumar. “The demands are high. Gone are those days when we had to push a school to start a program. Now we have a waiting list. Now they are knocking on our door.”

Tastebuds pushes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and proteins, along with food literacy. Schools place orders with local vendors through an online portal and then decide how to distribute the food. Many offer a grab-and-go system, where students can pick up food at a central location at the beginning of the day or before a recess. Some schools have a bin system within each classroom. A handful still offer a sit-down breakfast, although many of those disappeared during the pandemic. 

Kumar knows that hunger is growing and for many kids in our city, Tastebuds provides the only nourishing meal of the day. 

“Teachers are telling us that bins are being cleaned out. Nothing is coming back, not even apples. A couple of years ago, they would get sick and tired of apples.”

When children are fed at school, educators report they have to handle fewer behavourial issues and that learning improves, says Kumar. And families that are struggling to make ends meet can allocate more to other meals. 

“We hear so many stories of how our program helps, so that’s why I won’t give up and I’ll keep knocking on doors to find more funding.” 

Seniors Community Kitchen

On this day in the Seniors Community Kitchen, participants are making potato and leek soup, sour cream biscuits and a kale Caesar salad. Three volunteers are on hand to help with the prep and cooking. 

One of them is Maria DiCenzo, a retired university professor, who has been volunteering at Compass since 2022. 

“For me (this program) is just perfect. We’re here for a couple of hours and we can leave the awfulness of the world behind.” 

The menus are adventurous, says DiCenzo, and often plant-forward. There is almost always enough that participants can take home leftovers and they also get the recipes each week. 

A typical Seniors Kitchen brings out about 15 people, but it’s a frigid Wednesday in January, so on this day, there are 11 participants. They each help out, by cutting up veggies, mixing up the biscuits, stirring the soup.

The seniors take pride in contributing to the meal and relish the chance to socialize, share resources and talk about their life’s challenges.

This is Rose Hamilton’s first day. 

She learned about the Seniors Kitchen while visiting her foot doctor at Compass.

“I think this is great,” she says, while cutting up herbs. “I am really happy to find this.”

In contrast, Linda Robinson has been coming to Compass since 1986. Her doctor is there, she volunteers there and she participates in the Seniors Kitchen.

“It’s the best place you could ask for. I will never give up coming here. The staff is so respectful and kind. If it wasn’t for this place, I don’t know where I’d be.”

Not only are the food programs at Compass free to participants, but they can also get bus tickets to attend. That help is crucial for Millie, who didn’t want her last name published.

“(Seniors Kitchen) really helps me. I usually go home with dinner or lunch for the next day. That makes a big difference to me.” 

Positive spaces 

Food security is a serious issue within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, says Autumn Getty, a Compass community development worker and 2SLGBTQIA+ client advocate.

When you don’t feel comfortable in public spaces, having dedicated food security programs can be the difference between eating and not eating, says Getty. 

“We do have a few clients who, after they pay the rent, they've got no money left for the month, so this is their only source of food. The thing to know, of course, is that people are allowed to go to different food banks throughout the month, but they can only go to each one once, and so some only come to ours because that's still the one where they feel comfortable.”

Compass partners with the Neighbour to Neighbour Centre to provide a food bank that is open to the queer community, especially trans and non-binary people, says Getty, a trans woman and long-time community activist. 

She helps to organize a Trans Day of Remembrance dinner and hosts a monthly intergenerational kitchen where younger and older people socialize, share their experiences and learn from one another.

“And so that's a kitchen for folks from those communities to cook together and then eat together and chat, just community building. It also gives a chance to have some meals that a lot of the folks necessarily wouldn't have access to otherwise,” says Getty.

“Sometimes we make something like lasagna, which is expensive to make, and there's a lot of steps for some folks that have ability issues.”

In partnership with the YWCA’s Speqtrum program, Compass also provides the facilities for a monthly dinner for 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers to Canada and their allies called Mother Tongue Kitchen.

“So typically, folks from those communities, and in particular, trans people have difficulty finding work. So many are on some kind of social assistance or disability, or maybe even have no income at all. And so I’ve found that the food bank, in particular, is extremely well attended, actually. So is Mother tongue. Many people are very grateful for these programs.”

OTHER COMPASS FOOD PROGRAMS

Grub Club

Grub Club is for kids six through 12, and runs from the May long weekend through the last week in August. Kids learn plantss, prune, weed, water, and what parts of plants are edible. Each week includes time in the kitchen, too.

“So the kitchen would be a short recipe that is kid friendly, that they can do in about 20 minutes,” says Bown-Kai. “And then they get a recipe book at the end of summer, and they learn all those different skills. You know, it can be simple, like learning how to juice a lemon or we're learning how to properly use a whisk, simple things, but it helps them feel independent.”

It’s so popular, Compass had to institute a registration cap of 30 last year to keep numbers manageable.

Bown-Kai says there are children that come year after year. “We’ve even had kids that grew up doing Grub Club in the summer have come back to volunteer, or have used those skills to get a job.”

The program is supported by volunteers who want to share their passion and knowledge about gardening or cooking with kids. 

Community gardens

Compass’s on-site garden grew about 400 pounds of produce last year in 32 beds. Growing also happens in a greenhouse and in three organic community gardens (including two off-site in the North End) where about 80 community members can rent a plot for the growing season for between $20 and $30. 

Compass also provides special information and hands-on sessions to teach gardening practices, along with tools, fertilizers and organic pest controls and some seedlings and seeds. 

Earlier this year, Compass learned it is getting a grant through Agriculture Canada that will allow it to expand to 60 plots and add raised beds for accessible gardening, along with an irrigation system and wash station. 

Grow Well

Grow Well is a unique horticultural therapy program that combines organic greenhouse growing practices and mental wellness exercises for adults. Participants grow organic produce, herbs and plants while learning mindfulness techniques through experiences in Compass’s community greenhouse. Grow Well typically is offered throughout the spring and autumn seasons.

Seedlings are then planted in the community garden.

All the food grown through Grow Well goes home with participants or back into programming, such as the seniors kitchen or into Compass’s community fridge.

It opened about three years ago. Community members donate excess food they’ve grown, and schools and businesses contribute the proceeds of food drives. Anyone is welcome to take what they need, whether or not they are a client at Compass. 

“It’s not often full and it doesn’t stay stocked long. It is well used and serving the purpose it was meant to serve,” says Janzen. 

Cooking with Compass

A popular program that had to shut down last summer when a three-year provincial grant ended was Cooking with Compass, a collaboration with the two local school boards and Hamilton Public Health, that taught kitchen skills and nutrition to kids. 

Classes of students in grades three to five from two neighbouring schools (St. Lawrence Catholic and Bennetto) would come for eight weekly sessions to cook a recipe and learn about healthy eating habits and global foods. 

“We did about three classes from each school per year, and that was a really successful program. We were able to do some very cool things and make a lot of connections with kids that way,” says Bown-Kai. 

Through that program, teachers worked on curriculum in health, math, social studies, science and procedural writing. Kids took recipes with them to cook at home.

“We watched kids develop skills and confidence in being in a kitchen. It’s something I feel like we’re losing. People aren’t spending hours in the kitchen beside their grandma learning how to cook anymore, right? It just doesn't happen as much as it once did. And it's so important to just have some confidence in the kitchen, and you're going to eat better if you know how to prepare fresh food. You're not always relying on processed stuff that we all know isn't very good for us.”

OTHER FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMS IN HAMILTON

Community fridges
Crown Point Community Fridge, Ottawa Market, 204 Ottawa St. N.
Locke Street Community Fridge, Blessings Church, 115 Stanley Ave.
McMaster Community Fridge, 1280 Main St. W., Behind Mills Library
Community Fridge, Immanuel Church, 61 Mohawk Rd. W.
Strathcona Pantry, Strathcona Market, 460 York Blvd.
Gilkson Pantry, Today’s Family, 44 Greendale Dr.
BlueDoor Food Pantry, Hamilton Dream Centre, 627 Main St. E, Suite 100
Emergency Food Pantry, Eva Rothwell, 460 Wentworth St. N.

Food banks
Emergency Food Program, Parkview Church, 1120 West 5th St.
Neighbour to Neighbour, 28 Athens St.
The King's Way Outreach Centre, 390 King William St.
The Good Shepherd Venture Centre, 155 Cannon St. E.
The Salvation Army, 80 Bay St. N.
Good Food Centre, Mission Services, 196 Wentworth St. N.
Welcome Inn Community Centre, 40 Wood St. E.
The Giving Cupboard, Crown Point Community Church, 92 Ottawa St. N.
All Nations Full Gospel Church, 1209 Main St. E.
Restoration House, 103 MacNab St. N.
Hamilton Mountain Seventh Day Adventist Church, 284 Concession St.
Hamilton East Seventh Day Adventist Church, 203 Bell Ave.

Emergency food delivery, meals to go, vouchers
Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, 785 Britannia Ave.
Native Women’s Centre, 1900 King St. E.
Hamilton Regional Indian Centre, 734 Ottawa St. N.
St. Matthew’s House, 414 Barton St. E. (emergency food support for older adults)
Rafiki, food vouchers for Black clients, 100 James St. S.

Soup kitchens & mobile meal services
The Salvation Army Hamilton Booth Centre, 94 York Blvd., plus daily mobile meal service:
De Mazenod Door Outreach, St. Patrick Parish, 440 King St. E.
Hot meals, Good Shepherd Centres, 135 Mary St.
Drop In Program, The Hub, 78 Vine St.
Living Rock Youth Resources (ages 13-25), 30 Wilson St..
Essential Aid & Family Services of Ontario, Inc., 100 Main St. E. (infant formula & diaper bank)
Gore Park Community Outreach, Gore Park (Saturdays, 10 a.m. until approx 2 p.m.)
Free meal program, Hamilton Out of the Cold, Multiple locations, Nov. 1 to March 31