Bea Gaddy: Supporting East Baltimore During COVID-19

By Cynthia Brooks, Special to the AFRO

For nearly 30 years, the Bea Gaddy Family Centers have stood side-by-side with Baltimore’s families to provide healthy, quality food to those most in need. Even when not facing a global pandemic and historical unemployment levels, there has always been a need for food assistance in our community. But in my 18 years with Bea Gaddy, I have never seen a need like this. 

The past three months have been hard for our neighbors. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected the Black and Latinx communities, its economic impact has left far too many members of our East Baltimore community facing hunger. The most vulnerable populations, the elderly and those who struggled to obtain unemployment benefits in a timely manner, were also hit hardest.

Legendary advocate for the homeless and hungry Beatrice “Bea” Gaddy, was known by many as the “Mother Teresa of Baltimore.” (Courtesy Photo)

In March and April, as the pandemic surged its way across America, we saw an exponential growth in demand for food assistance from organizations like ours. We normally serve 150 families, but by the end of April, we were serving more than 200 families. This need will continue to accelerate as the school year ends and children who rely on school meals need additional food at home.   

For generations, our Baltimore community has persevered, and this time is no different. We will not succumb to this most recent crisis. 

Working together with a broad cross-section of organizations in the Baltimore community, and with the leadership and partnership of Johns Hopkins, we have met this unprecedented surge in the amount of food needed to keep Baltimore’s families fed. With generous support from the Hackerman family, Johns Hopkins and its partners, we launched the East Baltimore COVID-19 Food Access Initiative. This partnership between Johns Hopkins University, Saval Foodservice, Hungry Harvest, Bea Gaddy, and 16 faith-based and community organizations provides emergency food assistance to families impacted by COVID-19 – including those who may have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. 

Thanks to this $1.7 million emergency food assistance effort, Bea Gaddy and our partners are on track to distribute well over one million meals. Each food delivery serves 2,000 families – approximately 6,000 individuals – every week. The program has run since April and will continue through the summer, as we work to ensure that no Baltimorean goes hungry.

This work would not be possible without the support of our volunteers, and for that we are endlessly thankful. Six volunteers have devoted countless hours of their time to this important effort, coming early and staying late without ever being asked. They unload the trucks, sort the food, translate for our non-English speaking neighbors and more. In addition to meeting a critical need in our community, the East Baltimore Food Access Initiative has demonstrated the endless power of community. We are proud to serve the East Baltimore community through this crisis and will continue to support our neighbors for years to come. 

More information about the East Baltimore COVID-19 Food Access Initiative can be found here. A list of locations where members of the community can receive food assistance can be found here. 

Cynthia Brooks is the executive director of the Bea Gaddy Family Centers, a community based nonprofit organization that assists and provides food and other items to our neighbors throughout the Greater Baltimore Metropolitan Area and throughout Maryland.