Deep Need Found in This ZIP Code Might Surprise You, ECHO Reports

Stacey Efaw, executive director of the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon, was the guest speaker at the April 29 meeting of the FishHawk-Riverview Rotary Club, which meets Mondays at noon at Beef 'O' Brady's in Valrico, on Bell Shoals Road.

Beef's is located in the area designated by Valrico ZIP code 33596. But it's the other Valrico ZIP code — 33594 — that concerned Efaw, who discussed with the Rotarians both the need in the Greater Brandon community and her non-profit organization's role in helping to meet that need.

"You'd be surprised how many people in our area are hurting," she said. "I was really amazed to see that some ZIP codes in our Brandon area, actually the Valrico ZIP code 33594, was one of the places that had the most need getting the least amount of help."

Efaw based her comments on a study she said was conducted by the Tampa Bay Network To End Hunger and the University of South Florida. The network, she added, is a coalition of food pantries, government agencies, the Hillsborough County School District and other organizations, including Feeding America.

ECHO, the food pantry, clothes closet and client service center on North Parsons Avenue in Brandon, is a network member.

Efaw said the network conducted a hunger analysis, "a huge, scientific study [showing] where hunger is in our community," which resulted in a color-coded map of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

"They looked at the number of households that qualified for food stamps," she said. "Every ZIP code was a certain color. Then they looked at the number of households that are getting food stamps [and] where the assistance is, where all the charities are. And as they looked at the different ZIP codes, the areas changed colors, meaning they used to be red, now they're green, meaning that area is getting a lot of help."

The research showed that "there's a lot of areas in Hillsborough County that are very needy but there's also a lot of resources in that area," Efaw said.

What amazed her, though, is that for Valrico ZIP code 33594, the colors did not change.

"I did a little bit more research and what I found out is that there are a lot of families in this area that are struggling each month and they don't know that they actually do qualify for food stamps," Efaw said. "They don't know that there's actually assistance out there or they are ashamed to get it."

Toward that end, Efaw gave an overview of ECHO offerings, both to the Rotarians and in an interview after the meeting, which included the following points:

• ECHO services about 11,000 people annually, people who because of emergency situations find it hard to put food on the table and clothes on their backs.

• The ECHO client service center, "a three-year project in the making," helps clients find and acquire the social serivces they need, including food stamps and job-finding assistance.

• The client service center works with Hillsborough Community College, the Workforce Alliance and others to help secure those services.

• In partnership with Feeding America, ECHO has been able to transform its on-site food pantry into the computer-stocked client service center. Feeding America, off Adamo Drive, stores ECHO's food. Volunteers pick up food weekly to bring back to ECHO. A Walmart grant helped purchase a truck for that purpose.

• A grant from Bank of America, along with the remaining proceeds of the Walmart grant, helped pay for refrigeration that now allows for clients to pick up fresh produce as well.

Efaw noted that the government now requires people to sign up for food stamp assistance online.

"A lot of people don't know how to apply for food stamps," she added. "We found a lot of people don't know how to use the computer at all. They couldn't turn it on, they didn't know how to use a mouse."

Among its class offerings, ECHO provides computer instruction. A graduation ceremony was held recently for the first class of students who finished a GED class. There's also instruction in healthy living, which includes eating on a budget, free produce and demontrations for how to prepare healthy meals.

______________

RELATED COVERAGE:

• ECHO Grows With Client Service Center

• Ribbon-Cutting for ECHO Client Service Center

• 'Eating Healthy on a Budget' Highlights Produce Mission

______________