State Awards Citizens Inn Of Peabody $500K For Storage Facility

PEABODY, MA — The state awarded Citizens Inn of Peabody nearly $500K from its Food Security Infrastructure Program to renovate their facility and increase storage capacity for food received from the Greater Boston Food Bank, as well as local farms and partners, to meet demand amid the coronavirus health crisis.

The $475,587 grant was part of the $5.9 million in grants the state announced in the fourth round of funding from the program under the state's COVID-19 Command Center's Food Security Task Force.

"As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to build on our efforts to secure a resilient, diverse local food supply chain so Massachusetts residents maintain access to fresh, healthy food," said Gov. Charlie Baker."With this fourth round of grants, we will have awarded a total of $17.7 million, making critical investments in our local food infrastructure and ensuring a secure supply of food as residents across the Commonwealth adjust to the impacts of this unprecedented public health challenge."

Citizens Inn, Inc., now merged with Haven from Hunger, has a mission to work toward ending homelessness and hunger across the North Shore and "to support everyone with dignity and respect, as they live in our emergency shelter, Citizens Inn Between; our sober living transitional housing shelter, Citizens Inn Transition; our affordable housing units, Citizens Inn Homes; or join us for meals as part of our Citizens Inn Haven from Hunger program."

The goal of the state program is to make sure families have access to local food. The program also looks to help farmers, fishermen and other local food producers connect to a food system that helps them avoid supply and distribution issues.

When evaluating applicants, the state said considerations included equity, economic impact and need, sustainability and scalability of efforts, and the ability to accept public assistance benefits programs.

The latest round of proposals were due on Sept. 15 with past applications kept for evaluation for future funding.

The task force is composed of a broad group of public and private members charged with ensuring food insecurity and food supply needs are addressed during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

This article originally appeared on the Peabody Patch