Action on Food Insecurity: Building A Bigger Table

Summit: Action on Food Insecurity …Building A Bigger Table

Date: Thursday, October 17

Time: 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Location: Riverfront Museum Park, Kresge Hall, 711 N Main St, Rockford, IL 61103

Cost: FREE

No one should ever go hungry! But in our community, hunger has an invisible but significant impact.

We have the tools and resources to address this critical issue. Your attendance and input will make a difference in the lives of your neighbors in need of food. Attend this strategy and co-create an action plan to ensure all people in our community have access to quality, affordable food and an equitable food distribution system.

The reasons individuals and families struggle with hunger are complex, but we know:

• A growing number of our neighbors, more than 11,000 people, are facing food insecurity.
• 15.8% of Winnebago County residents are facing food insecurity, higher than the national average of 12.8%.
• Winnebago County has the third highest rate of child food insecurity in the state at 20.7%, nearly double the state average of 11.3%.
• One-third of our food-insecure neighbors live above the SNAP threshold and many must choose between food and other necessities, or rely on food pantries and other support to keep themselves and their families from going hungry.

Nearly 175 community members will gather to develop strategies to bridge gaps and solve food insecurity in the Rockford region. Working together, we’ll explore the current resource landscape, identify solutions and strategies to break down barriers, and plan for next steps to solve hunger in our community and ensure that we all have the opportunity to thrive. The work will be centered on voices with lived experience, and grounded in the values of dignity, justice, equity and compassion.

Presenters and Panelists

Setting the Stage: Julie Yurko, President & CEO of Northern Illinois Food Bank will share data on food insecurity, hunger, and our local community and food systems.

Inspiring Change and Modeling Possibility: Sherrie Tussler, CEO Emeritus of the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force will share best practices and innovative solutions to address food insecurity, along with examples from model communities addressing hunger and building sustainable, comprehensive food systems. Sherrie will share information about the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force’s Free & Local Food Bank, 208 acre farm generating 500,000 pounds of fresh food per year, mobile market, community education, and food systems advocacy and collaboration to solve hunger in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.

Panel Discussion

A panel of speakers, moderated by Wally Haas, Executive Director of Transform Rockford, will provide data on demographics and systemic barriers, history about eastward retail migration and the future of retail in our community, local research on people with lived experience, voices of people with lived experience, and an overview of existing community resources.

Panelists include:

• Mary Cacioppi, CEO, Bridges to Prosperity
• Raveneet Kaur, Research Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago
• Ron Clewer, Illinois Market President, Gorman & Company
• Anna Garrison, Community & Economic Development, City of Rockford
• Adam Little, Rockford Resident
• Yvette Sellers, Area Coordinator, Northern Illinois Food Bank

Facilitated Breakout Sessions

Local experts will facilitate breakout sessions to engage attendees around the topics of:

• key barriers and opportunities
• food accessibility and affordability
• transportation and access to emergency food resources
• access to nutritious food and culturally preferred food options
• ways to reduce hunger and increase economic stability

Outcomes and Next Steps

The group will define goals and strategies to:

• Increase access to healthy, affordable and preferred food choices, especially in food swamps and food deserts in Rockford.
• Prioritize key solutions to end hunger and address local food insecurity.
• Break down barriers to build a sustainable, comprehensive food system.
• Build a sustainable structure to address hunger and align partners to guide the work moving forward.

Who should attend: Anyone who cares about or is impacted by food insecurity in Rockford or broader Winnebago County should attend. Attendees will include food pantries, schools, community organizations, people impacted by food insecurity and hunger, farmers, grocers, healthcare providers, transportation providers, research institutions, representatives from the public sector, and passionate community members.

Individuals with lived experience with food insecurity are eligible to receive a $20 gift card to both support their attendance and participation, and to demonstrate the critical value of lived experience expertise in driving equitable and impactful solutions. There are a limited number of gift cards available on a first-come, first-served basis, and gift cards will be distributed at the event during check-in and registration. Please indicate your identification as a community member with lived experience with food insecurity in the Eventbrite registration form and you will be added to the list of potential gift card recipients.

Accessibility: This event is wheelchair accessible. To request a reasonable accommodation or discuss your needs, contact Billie Callahan at NICNE at [email protected] or 815.753.8793.

Presented by:

This program is presented by the Food Insecurity Task Force in partnership with the Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence (NICNE), with support from the Kjellstrom Family Foundation, the Kiwanis Club of Rockford, and the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.

About the Speakers and Facilitators

Julie Yurko, President & CEO, Northern Illinois Food Bank

The Northern Illinois Food Bank delivers food and healthy eating services to communities in Northern Illinois, serving neighbors in 13 counties by providing 250,000 meals per day.

Julie has served as president and CEO of the Northern Illinois Food Bank since 2014. She joined the Food Bank in 2009 and previously served as vice president of philanthropy overseeing fundraising, food sourcing, marketing and volunteers. Under Julie’s leadership the Food Bank successfully completed Strategic Plan 2020, providing equity to access to charitable food in 98% of the communities served by Food Bank member agencies and programs. In 2020, the Food Bank launched Strategic Plan UNITE to transform the charitable food system in order to reach 90% of neighbors experiencing food insecurity through a more dignified, equitable and convenient experience.

Julie has more than 25 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Prior to joining the Food Bank, Julie worked for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Children’s Memorial Foundation (now Lurie’s Children’s Medical Center) and the Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo. Julie has served as President of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement, and on the Boards of the Special Education Alliance for District 200 and Teen Parent Connection.

Julie serves on the Boards of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago, Feeding Illinois and Thrivent Member Network Regional Board. She is a past member of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger.

Julie has a degree in music and business from Northern Illinois University. She and her family live in Winfield.

Sherrie Tussler, CEO Emeritus, Milwaukee Hunger Task Force

Sherrie served as president and CEO of the Milwaukee Hunger Task force for 27 years before recently retiring this past June. The Hunger Task Force, Milwaukee’s Free & Local food bank, is a national model due to innovation and outside-the-box thinking. With a passion for eliminating barriers to food, Sherrie thinks big and believes that no one should have to go to sleep hungry or skip other essential bills in order to eat. She has spent her career working toward a Wisconsin where no one is hungry. Hard work, honesty, innovation, compassion, collaboration and perseverance are her legacy.

Sherrie came to the Hunger Task Force in 1997 from Hope House, a shelter for families facing homelessness, during a time when the welfare system was crumbling. She previously worked as a crisis and sexual assault counselor. Over her career, she gained a reputation as a fierce and fearless advocate who thinks creatively to solve problems.

Under her leadership, the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force advanced welfare reform, advocacy efforts and innovative solutions to address hunger. The Task Force provides leadership for state and federal advocacy efforts including founding the Wisconsin Hunger Relief Federation to address food insecurity in Milwaukee and across the state of Wisconsin. Partnerships with local food systems, businesses and national corporations break down barriers and address inequities. The Task Force expanded programming to include a 208 acre farm in Franklin, WI to grow 500,000 pounds of healthy food each year and services include home delivery to 1,200 home-bound seniors, a Mobile Market to reach Milwaukee’s hungriest food desert communities and SNAP nutrition education.

Sherrie earned a BS in Management from Cardinal Stritch University and was named an honorary doctorate in 2021 for her community leadership. Sherrie lives in Racine, Wisconsin and plans to spend her next years resuming her hobby of rehabbing homes and spending time with her family.

Wally Haas, Executive Director of Transform Rockford, has been executive director of Transform Rockford since June of 2023. He was a journalist at the Rockford Register Star for more than 40 years, with the last 19 as opinion editor, before retiring in 2020. He serves on the board of directors at Carpenter's Place, is a member of the Mayor's Hunger Campaign committee, is vice-chairman of Rockford Bell Credit Union and is secretary of the Flatlanders Chapter of Muskies Inc.

Wally and his wife, Mary raised their family in Rockford and he cherishes time with his two children and three grandchildren who reside in Rockford and Texas.

About NICNE:

The Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence (NICNE) has been providing capacity building, training, technical assistance and resource support to nonprofit organizations within our region since August 2004. NICNE is the region's primary resource for nonprofit management and leadership development. NICNE strengthens nonprofits and encourages collaboration resulting in a strong, vibrant nonprofit sector critical to a healthy community. NICNE mission: Promote, model and grow innovation, excellence and social impact.

NICNE is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and affiliate of Northern Illinois University, Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development. Learn more at our website, www.niu.edu/nicne/

Questions about the event? Contact co-facilitators Alberta Walker ([email protected]) or Kim Adams-Bakke ([email protected]).

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Riverfront Museum Park, 711 North Main Street, Rockford, United States