Alternative Approved Food Sources for the Homeless

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

In response to a growing need Placer County opened a temporary homeless shelter with a limited common area and no food preparation service areas at the Placer County Government Center property in Auburn California. The nonprofit organization, Volunteers of America (VOA), operates the shelter and provides a total of 97 beds. This shelter was considered to be a temporary solution that has been operating for almost two years and is likely to remain the only option for several more years. Almost immediately the problem of ensuring a safe food supply was identified since the shelter facility had no food preparation areas or adequate equipment. The Environmental Health Division (EH) proposed a solution to ensure a safe food source was always available by working collaboratively with nonprofit organizations and local faith based organizations. Without the capability for safe food preparation at the homeless shelter food donations were accepted from sources that were well meaning but inadvertently creating a health concern as the food could not be ensured to be from a safe source and adequate temperature controls could not be maintained. In response to these concerns the EH elected to contact numerous faith based and other nonprofit organizations to evaluate the potential of the kitchens at their facilities to evaluate if they meet the standard health and safety code requirements. EH proposed to conduct evaluations and provide a health permit at no cost. Any kitchen that is in compliance with the health and safety standards would be issued a health permit reflecting the capacity of the facility. EH staff has also provided food safety training to volunteers and church members who utilize these facilities to provide safe food to the homeless shelter or other nonprofit humanitarian support efforts.