El Centro Food Pantry opens to combat food insecurity

A brand new food pantry in Hartford is combating the growing problem of food insecurity. El Centro Food Pantry aims to help the Hispanic community, and anyone who could use support.

It unofficially opened its doors on Thursday.

“They even have Trader Joes right here! Like how can you go wrong with that?” Janicetza Colon, of Hartford, said while browsing through items and filling her shopping cart.

Colon was getting something for herself and something for her kids.

“Kids love, love, love their Doritos. Especially my kids!” she said.

The Hartford mom is one of the first customers to make use of the new El Centro Food Pantry.

“I just found out about it today,” she said.

Colon is on text alerts for food pantry appointments across the metro area, but the new space is right in her neighborhood and welcomes walk-ins.

“This makes it a lot more easier for other people to be able to come in and just grab what you need,” Colon said.

The pantry is not even officially open, but there is already demand. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, seven people who got word about the new pantry popped in.

“I go to food shares just to use my resources efficiently, and this is probably the best one I've ever been to,” Charnelle Swinton, of Hartford, said. “Everyone is super friendly here. They have a lot of organic stuff.”

El Centro Family Center, part of Catholic Charities, opened the food bank, and it’s funded by Connecticut Foodshare, Midwest Food Bank, and Hartford Hospital, along with Catholic Charities.

Many pantry volunteers speak Spanish with clients, addressing a language barrier that is one reason many Connecticut Latinos do not have access to food.

According to Connecticut Foodshare, 27 percent of the state’s Hispanic population is food insecure.

The new space aims to meet the need for 300 people or more each month, many of them in the Hispanic community.

“We can help many families in the community, that they can have something that they can put at the table for the family,” Nilda Morales, the director of the El Centro Family Center, said. “This is opening for everybody, not only for the Latino population of Hispanic people. This is opening for any people in the community.”

Food insecurity impacts 480,000 people across the state, according to Connecticut Foodshare.

New data released last week shows it is a growing problem. One in eight adults in our state faces food insecurity right now, an increase from one in 10, Connecticut Foodshare reports.

When it comes to Connecticut kids, one in six are food insecure, up from one in nine.

Connecticut Foodshare says population growth and inflation are some reasons to blame.

“The cost of food, we know if you go to the grocery store these days, you spent all that money and you don't get that much,” Luis Rodriguez Porter, Connecticut Foodshare network relations representative for Hartford, said.

Rodriguez Porter says that there are 70 pantries or food partnership programs in Hartford to address the issue, and roughly 600 across Connecticut.

For the two moms, making use of community resource is the answer to feeding their families.

“It makes me feel like no matter what, the city has my back,” Swinton said.

They also see it as an answer to fueling their ambitions.

“I was recently laid off, so it makes it a little harder,” Colon said. “I'm on a fixed income and I budget. At least I know that there's a resource here in Hartford, in the heart of Hartford.”

The El Centro Food Pantry is located at 45 Wadsworth St. in Hartford.

Beginning on June 4, it will be open during select hours. The pantry will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 2:30 p.m., and on Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m.

No registration is required. El Centro Food Pantry welcomes walk ins.