Author: John Corbin (BS, CPT, MCPT, CSNC)

  • Garrett County Health Department Hosts Visioning Session for New Food Bank and Resource Hub Initiative

    Garrett County Health Department Hosts Visioning Session for New Food Bank and Resource Hub Initiative

    An invitation for the community to weigh in with their vision for the new Garrett County Food Bank and Resource Hub that is being established in Garrett County was held on January 24, 2025. Almost 50 people from local businesses, community organizations, agencies, and the general public attended either in person or virtually to share their ideas. The vision session was designed by Shelley Argabrite, MA, Director of Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics, and co-facilitated by Chris Mullett, President and CEO of Community Action Committee, and Lorena de Leon, DPA, MBA, Sr. Director, Population Health and Social Determinants of Health at Maryland Physicians Care with assistance from Fred Polce, Jr., MS, Director of the Local Behavioral Health Authority, and Local Management Board and John Corbin, Informatics Administrator at the Garrett County Health Department.

    The Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics Unit within the Garrett County Health Department established the Garrett County Community Food Network found at GarrettCountyFood.com to organize and document the food and nutrition security efforts fostered within the Health Department from competitive grant awards over the last four years. It highlights partnerships, resources, organizational processes, investments in local farms, community-supported agriculture, and innovative solutions that serve as building blocks to propel our community into operating a sustainable food bank and resource hub. 

    The meeting began by asking participants to discuss the strengths of the current food system in Garrett County. Argabrite thoughtfully acknowledged the hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless volunteer hours contributed over the years to help serve people in need and that each of those community assets is vital.

    Despite all of the efforts made by churches, agencies, and neighbors, people continue to experience food insecurity. Divine Hope Church provides local data on the number of meals they serve each month to the community hub, found at MyGarrettCounty.com, in an effort to locally quantify food insecurity. This data along with the most recent Community Health Needs Assessment, indicates our efforts are falling short as the need for accessible food resources continues to grow. 

    Leadership, funding, partnerships, tenacity, community interest, and need have brought our community to this exciting opportunity. 

    “Let’s reinvent the role of a food bank and adopt a new approach that promotes health and creates pathways for people to connect with services that empower them to thrive. Our aim is to cultivate connections centered around food and measure those connections meaningfully,” said Argabrite, “Let’s build a community resource that understands food insecurity is a symptom of systemic root causes and work together to address them.”

    The group, both in person and virtually, worked to answer questions about current resources and additional support that may be missing and needed. All feedback was gathered and will be considered for planning purposes.

    To stay apprised of progress regarding this work and to read the concept framing the vision, visit GarrettCountyFoodBank.com. In addition, anyone may leave public comments at that location about the project at any time. 

    This project is a coordinated effort by the Garrett County Health Department’s Population Health, Innovation, Informatics Unit, Garrett County Community Action, Maryland Physicians Care, and Garrett County Local Management Board, with input from countless Garrett County stakeholders dedicated to reducing food insecurity. 

    “When we collectively work together, imagine the meaningful impacts we can measure as people begin to overcome obstacles,” said, Argabrite.

    On March 28, 2025, guests who will be utilizing the services of the new food bank and resource hub are invited to an open house from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at 360 West Liberty Street, Oakland, Maryland, 21550. This is an opportunity for community voices with lived experiences to share how the food bank and resource hub would best serve them. Light refreshments will be served.

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    Additional Information:

    MPC

    About Maryland Physicians Care: Maryland Physicians Care (MPC), headquartered in Linthicum Heights, Md., provides free, quality healthcare services to Maryland’s HealthChoice enrollees by extending the full benefits of Medicaid through a comprehensive network of medical providers. MPC was founded in 1996 and is owned by Ascension Saint Agnes, Holy Cross Health, Meritus Health, and UPMC Western Maryland. MPC believes in helping its members make good decisions about their health through free, quality healthcare services. Those interested in enrolling with MPC must be qualifying members of HealthChoice, a program of the Maryland Department of Health. Learn more about MPC by visiting mpcMedicaid.com. Enroll with MPC at mpcmedicaid.com/enroll.

  • Garrett County Food Bank Visioning Session – Remote Form

    https://bit.ly/gcfb-vision

    QR Code

    This form is designed to complement the in-person brainstorming session held at the Garrett County Health department in Oakland.

    This form will close on January 27, 2025 to allow for additional time for anyone unable to attend the meeting.

    There will be additional opportunities for feedback.

  • Garrett County Food Bank Meeting Announced: Public Comment – Share Your Vision!

    Garrett County Food Bank Meeting Announced: Public Comment – Share Your Vision!

    The public, local businesses, community organizations, and agencies are invited to attend the first public meeting and visioning session for the Garrett County Food Bank.

    Garrett County Food Bank Meeting: Public Comment & Share Your Vision!
    January 24th, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.
    Garrett County Health Department (Oakland)
    Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/mkh-anhp-mib
    This meeting will be recorded and posted publicly if technology allows.

    In-person attendance is strongly encouraged for participation in the interactive elements. The meeting will also be available in a hybrid format.

    Agenda:
    https://garretthealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Garrett-County-Food-Bank-Meeting-Agenda-January-2025.docx.pdf

    Public comments are also accepted 24/7/365 at https://garrettcountyfoodbank.com/public-comment/.

    This project is a coordinated effort by the Garrett County Health Department, Garrett County Community Action, Maryland Physicians Care, Garrett County Local Management Board, Garrett County Community Food Network, Garrett County Harvest Hub, and countless Garrett County stakeholders dedicated to reducing food insecurity. Additional details about the Garrett County Food Bank are available at https://garrettcountyfoodbank.com/.

  • Hello world!

    Hello world!

    A website has been created for the ongoing work to develop a permanent Garrett County Food Bank. This work has continued to develop since 2020, and is rooted in many local datasets, such as the Garrett County Community Health Assessment (https://mygarrettcounty.com/cha2024/).

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