CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - Healthy Champaign County hosted its annual food summit to highlight food insecurity in the area. Several organizations and their staff attended the event to learn more about the resources and programs the community offers.
"We see about 50% of our discharging patients that have issues with food security," said Camille Birt, the OSF Healthcare program manager for community health and chair of the board of Healthy Champaign County. " If you don't have food security, it's likely that you have other co-morbidities in your life, that you might be struggling with income, poverty, etc. So it's really looped into a lot of other health issues."
OSF has launched several initiatives to help with food security, and wants others to do the same. The summit allows staff at multiple organizations, like food banks, local grocery stores, and nonprofits, to connect with each other and brainstorm potential ideas.
"We're stronger in numbers," said Birt. "So the people we have working on the same things and the better we can collaborate, the better the outcomes will be for the community groups that we're serving."
Birt said she's seen food insecurity issues worsen since the COVID-19 pandemic. She wants to ensure they are proactive in finding solutions.
OSF has several programs to help with food insecurity issues.
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