The first-ever healthcare partner has joined Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s Nutritious Pantry Network.
Grace Medical Home is a healthcare center that provides holistic comprehensive care, including medical, dental, mental health, spiritual care, social services, access to food, nutrition and cooking demonstrations, and more. The clinic serves Orange County residents who are uninsured and have a low income.
The food pantry at Grace Medical, recently met the standards to become a Certified Nutritious Pantry. They were recognized in a certification ceremony at their facility in Orlando earlier this fall for enhancing access to healthier food options and providing additional resources its patients may need.
“The exciting thing about having a nutritious pantry in a healthcare setting is that we know there is a direct connection between health and nutrition,” said Angela Corona, health systems manager at Second Harvest. “The fact that we have not just a pantry that’s providing food, but nutritious food and education, is critical when helping support patients that might have a diet-related chronic disease or even preventing those diseases in the first place.”
This Nutritious Pantry Certification marks a new milestone in a long-standing partnership between Grace Medical Home and Second Harvest. It also brings the total number of Nutritious Pantries in the food bank’s network to 16, stretching across Brevard, Lake, Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Volusia and Marion counties.
“We’re excited about this work, and we’re excited about using this as a model to expand into other healthcare pantries in the future,” Angela said.
At the certification, Grace Medical CEO Stephanie Garris said she was celebrating becoming a nutritious pantry.
“The need to be a nutritious pantry is incredible,” she said. “Here is a medical clinic for the low-income uninsured, and we see the barriers the patients face in becoming well, and a big part of that is food insecurity.”
Stephanie confirmed that incorporating healthy food into treatment plans for chronic diseases is critical.
“Certainly there’s a segment of the population that just doesn’t have access to this kind of food,” she said.
