OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — The Ottawa County Health Department has secured funding to relaunch its Ottawa Food program, which had been left in limbo due to budget cuts last year.
The county's health officer said they're looking to bring back the program's former coordinator to lead the restart efforts.
"I'm really excited that we can support our community," Ottawa County Health Director Adeline Hambley said.
Ottawa Food provides critical support to local families and individuals facing food insecurity.
"They've worked to coordinate, bridge that gap, build connections that may not have been there before," Hambley said.
Ottawa County's budget for fiscal year 2025 went into effect on Oct. 1.
"I'm excited to say that the board approved restoring funding to Ottawa Food for our fiscal year '25 budget," Hambley added.
Hambley is looking to rehire Ottawa Food's coordinator, Sierra Schuetz.
Schuetz and previous coordinators have worked to provide people access to healthy food.
"So increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables that are grown right here in the county while also, you know, helping to support and have our farmers give back to the community," she explained.
Ottawa Food's advisory board comprises of 45 local nonprofits and organizations.
Last year was the first time they were without a county-level coordinator in more than a decade.
"I'm excited that we will maybe be more efficient and maybe even have new avenues for collecting food in the community and distributing it in the community so that we don't have anybody falling through the cracks," Hambley said.
Ottawa Food's 2023 annual report reveals that a program the county could no longer support helped 350 seniors. Senior Project Fresh, which provided $25 vouchers to participants, enabled local seniors to purchase nearly $6,000 worth of fresh produce from area farmers markets, according to the report.
"[Schuetz is] very passionate about this work and very dedicated to serving the community, so I think she's excited to step back into the role of serving the community in this way," Hambley said.
The county board did approve the general fund contribution to public health. It wasn't without a bit of back-and-forth.
Records show that earlier this year, a majority of commissioners voted to move $2 million out of Public Health's rainy day balance. Hambley says that money will now be used to fund her department.
"I think that our overall increase over last year was hovering right around $800,000 and the majority of that was increased cost due to salary, fringe admin overhead costs in the county," Hambley said.
According to the health director, the position is going to cost the county more than $100,000. She added that this would cover salary, benefits and administrative costs.
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