Thanks to a new grant from Catalyst Kitchens and the federal Americorps VISTA program, Just Harvest is growing!
Meet our new staff:
Helen Gerhardt, part-time Food Stamp Specialist
Helen first joined Just Harvest’s staff as a greeter at our South Side free tax assistance site for the 2014 tax season. Prior to this she worked as an organizer at Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Action United, and the American Friends Service Committee, and was communications coordinator for the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. Helen’s lengthy community service includes a deployment to Iraq in 2000 with the Missouri Army National Guard. She received a BA in English and a BFA in studio arts from the University of Missouri, and a MFA in creative writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Her writing has been in a number of publications, including the National Endowment of the Arts collection Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families. She lives in Highland Park.
James Tedrow, full-time Food Stamp Specialist
James rejoined Just Harvest in April 2014 after having served as an intern from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work during 2011-12. This experience has made it an easy transition into his current role as a food stamp specialist. In addition to a BA in social work, James also has degrees in political science and history. Originally from Greensburg, James now resides in Wilkinsburg.
For the next year, we will also have three new VISTA staff through the National Anti-Hunger and Opportunity Corps (led by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger):
Julia Lauritzen
Julia, a former student intern at Just Harvest, has gotten off to a running start by laying the groundwork for SNAP outreach to the homeless, which we are beginning by working with Operation Safety Net, a well-established homeless provider. She has also been working on outreach to the parts of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area that another former student intern recently identified as under-served, hoping to get the word out that Just Harvest is here to help. Additionally, she has been getting acquainted with our new partner, Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, with whom she is beginning to work on food stamp outreach to their clients and culinary training program participants.
Katie Mahoney
Katie will be working on promoting and developing our Fresh Access program, including developing a “market match” program so that, for example, a $10 food stamps/EBT purchase will result in $20 worth of tokens to use as cash at participating farmers markets. Only here a month, she has already put in place Red Token Daily deals for Fresh Access EBT shoppers at participating farmers market vendors. Katie is also working to drive participation in smaller neighborhood markets, particularly – thanks to a grant from Vibrant Pittsburgh – tailoring the Citiparks Beechview and Carrick markets to better serve the city’s growing Latino and Nepali immigrant communities.
Dylan Molloy
Beginning in August, Dylan, another former student intern, will be working throughout the year on improving access to nutritious food options in Allegheny County. He will focus on enhancing awareness of the availability of EBT/credit/debit payment options at farmers markets through our Fresh Access program, supporting and strengthening community gardening and agricultural efforts, and providing nutrition education opportunities for low-income members of the local communities.
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