Part of a Solution
A volunteer shares her experience working at a low-barrier food distribution sites in New Orleans.
By Valeria Ali
A few weeks into the Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns in 2020, Debbie Lindsey and her husband, Philipe LaMancusa, signed up to volunteer with Culture Aid NOLA, a mutual aid group that started in the pandemic with a mission to connect local culture bearers with food, health care and basic resources. Lindsey quickly found herself on the front lines of the local pandemic response, spending Saturday mornings packing canned goods, fruits and vegetables for distribution to residents who needed help.
“People were lining up at six in the morning because they were hungry,” Lindsey recalled.
At the time, Culture Aid NOLA was hosting drive-up food distributions at community sites like Bell Artspace, Mahalia Jackson Theater and local churches. Lindsey said she felt energized as she loaded bags and put them into the trunks of dozens of vehicles that lined up. But mostly she liked being able to get out of the house and hang out with neighbors.
“Frankly, I just enjoyed it,” she said.
More than two years later, Lindsey is still dedicating one or two Saturdays a month to Culture Aid NOLA. I met her back in November 2021 in the parking lot at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in the 7th Ward, one of Culture Aid’s two weekly distribution sites. She was smiling and cheerful despite hours spent packing food and lifting heavy bags of food outdoors on a chilly morning. She said the work is still fun and it’s still needed.
“I feel like we really are standing between food insecurity and people not having enough money to buy things,” Lindsey said. “The food distribution helps.”
As we talked, Lindsey pointed out that food insecurity in New Orleans is complex. Factors like low wages, increasing housing and rising food prices affect a person’s ability to buy food for themselves, she said. Factors like a pandemic or hurricanes can send thousands of families into food insecurity literally overnight.
The Center for Planning Excellence estimates the number of food-insecure households in Louisiana has increased by 44% since the start of the pandemic. Of those households, 69% have not had access to nutritionally adequate food in the past week. Black and brown communities are more likely than white communities to experience food insecurity. About 23% of Black Louisiana households reported not having enough food in the past week, compared with 7% of white households, according to the nonprofit’s 2021 report.
Culture Aid launched in March 2020, the result of a collaboration of nonprofits including the New Orleans Musician’s Clinic and Assistance Foundation, the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans, Trinity Loaves and Fishes, and 504 Health Net. Culture Aid does not require an ID or paperwork for residents to access food at its distribution sites. The goal is to make it easier for people to ask for and access help, founder and Executive Director Erica Chomsky-Adelson said.
Lindsey said distributing food isn’t the final solution. But she said we have to address immediate needs while we work toward fair wages and increased affordability. Giving New Orleans residents access to food allows them to make the most of the earnings they have right now. That makes her feel like she’s making a difference, she added.
“Just being able to lighten a person’s expenses towards food is rewarding,” she said. “I get to feel a little less part of the problem and a little more part of a solution.”
Valeria Ali is a Fall 2021 Community Reporting Fellow. Ali grew up in Jefferson Parish and a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans. She works as a communications and events associate at The Idea Village in New Orleans.
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