GOVERNOR SUNUNU VISITS MID-STATE HEALTH CENTER TO SEE GOFFER FUNDING IN ACTION

Jan 7, 2021 | News

Governor Sununu visited Mid-State Health Center today to preview Mid-State’s new program that provides vulnerable populations access to food resources when they are affected by COVID-19. Mid-State received just over $15,000 in GOFFER Funding through the State’s COVID-19 Relief Fund for the Community Support Program. “Many of those in our community rely on local food banks and community resources to obtain their food, and once affected by the COVID-19 virus and required to quarantine, the resources that they commonly seek become inaccessible,” shared Samantha Hooper who is leading the program implementation.

As part of  their COVID-19 Testing service, Mid-State will now be able to help ensure access to food resources for those who test positive, or who are required to quarantine, and do not have adequate access to food by providing “Quarantine Grocery Boxes”. The goal is to ensure everyone has enough healthy food to complete their quarantine and ultimately reduce the exposure to COVID in the community. The program is focused on people impacted by COVID-19 and who are unable to access to their normal food security resources such as a food pantry or grocery store because. The goal is to help those in our community who are most vulnerable, a way to stay as healthy as possible while addressing their COVID-19 related quarantine. With the GOFFER funding, Mid-State will be able to help 90 or more families with food resources during these already challenging times.

Governor Sununu said “Mid-State didn’t take a step back, they took a step forward, making sure they were providing testing and innovative solutions. The kick-off of this program is taking their food service to the next level, and especially in these next winter months, there is still going to be a very high need.”

This program will piggy back Mid-State’s already successful food security program, Feed the Need, that offers Mid-State patients who are identified as food insecure to leave the health center with three days’ worth of healthy food along with recipe suggestions to prepare it and are connected with a patient support specialist to assist them in establishing a food security plan.  This program originated in 2019 in response to the needs of the community.  The need for food resources in the rural region Mid-State serves continues to grow exponentially due to the pandemic.

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