Common Pantry
Chicago, IL
Challenge
Common Pantry is Chicago’s longest-running food pantry, founded in 1967 to combat food insecurity and hunger on the north side. In 2018, the organization sought to expand its ability to provide food and other social services and find a larger, permanent home that was more accessible and safe. Common Pantry had run for many years as a volunteer-driven organization and only recently had begun to professionalize staff and operations. Organizational leadership sought to identify what operational expansion was most needed and how to grow without losing a “community” feel or unduly shifting resources from programs to administration. Most importantly, they wanted shifts in programming to be directly informed by input from their clients.
Common Pantry hired Community Allies to guide them through strategic planning and community engagement processes to develop a clear strategic direction, a path for implementation, and metrics to track impact and growth.
Approach
Community Allies first conducted a study of Common Pantry’s current impact compared to the need in their service area, including a demographic analysis of food insecurity. Next, Community Allies designed and implemented a community engagement process, which included:
Short-form, in-person survey of Common Pantry clients as they were leaving food pick-up days, to determine whether their needs had been met and what other services they might require
One-on-one interviews with a selection of clients. The interviews were designed by Community Allies but conducted by a trusted Common Pantry social worker to engender trust
Interviews and surveys reaching the board of directors, community members, elected officials, key volunteers, partner organizations, and donors, to get feedback on the organization’s effectiveness as a community partner
We also arranged for board members to visit other food pantries, to explore best practices in action.
Community Allies then developed and facilitated a series of strategic planning sessions with the Common Pantry board, informed by the findings of the community engagement process. We supported the board in drilling down on four priority areas of focus--functional space, food resources, non-food social services, and outreach and social connectedness—and developing a first-year implementation plan as well as tools to track needs and stakeholder engagement. They also narrowed down the attributes of an ideal permanent space and options for financing the purchase of a building. Most importantly they aligned on values, mission, and goals to direct their growth over time. We facilitated a “review and adjust” session with the board six months later to help them evaluate their progress and make needed shifts to reach their goals.
Results
The COVID-19 pandemic began just months after our final session with the board. The vulnerable populations served by Common Pantry were hit especially hard, and many more people joined the vulnerable ranks. Grounded in their newly agreed-upon direction, Common Pantry board and staff responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by serving more than twice their pre-pandemic capacity and temporarily expanding their service area to the entirety of Cook County. With agreement on the focus of expenditures, they purchased a refrigerated van that was indispensable in expanding food deliveries. In 2021, they acquired a building close to their current location that will allow them to better serve their historic and growing clientele. They are using their strengthened engagement skills to ensure that organizational growth is grounded in the needs of their community. They are still guided by the organizational mission and vision developed during our sessions.
“Community Allies painted a data-driven picture of the existing needs of our clients that allowed our board and staff to create a clear mission-focused organizational road map for the next 3-5 years.”
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