PEABODY — Citizens Inn, a Peabody-based organization that works to provide individuals with food and a safe place to stay and offers tools to help people become more stable in their lives, announced that its Haven from Hunger Food Pantry and Meals Program will now rely more heavily on volunteers again and focus more on workforce development.
According to Citizens Inn Executive Director Carolina Trujillo, historically, Haven from Hunger has always been a largely volunteer-staffed operation. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization was forced to hire staff to continue delivering food and meals due to a decline in volunteer numbers.
“As volunteerism has increased, we are able to pivot back to our largely volunteer-staffed operating model,” Trujillo said. “We will transition to a model that relies more heavily on volunteers, as we have in the past, to continue our mission effectively.”
Trujillo said that the current programming at Haven from Hunger will remain the same, with the addition of new programs focused on workforce development.
“To accommodate these new initiatives, we will transition to offering to-go meals instead of our usual on-site dining,” Trujillo said. “We are committed to be the main source of food and meals for the most vulnerable in our community.”
In a recent statement, Trujillo said that amidst the homelessness crisis, there is a growing demand for programs that provide opportunities for meaningful and stable employment.
“We are committed to doing our part to address this need by offering programming that empowers individuals to earn a paycheck and become active contributors to the fabric of our community,” Trujillo said. “We were committed to continuing our food provision and meal service while adapting our space to collaborate with Essex Tech on workforce development programs.”
