WHAT WE DO
Summer BreakSpot
Through this “food, fun and friends” 10-week summer program, thousands of vulnerable youth and their families have access to daily meals, snacks and summer enrichment activities at 10 locations throughout Broward County. Children’s Services Council, local faith-based partners, and Chef Sharon Allen , the owner of Blue Tree Café in Sistrunk, are among the numerous organizations that help make this project possible. Each summer, about 20,000 meals and snacks are provide to 350 children.
The Transforming Community Initiative
The Transforming Community Initiative (TCI) is a neighborhood-focused, community‑driven effort that brings residents, nonprofits, and local partners together to improve food access, advance nutrition equity, and reduce chronic disease. Through collaborative planning, capacity‑building, and targeted investments, TCI strengthens community leadership and supports sustainable, resident‑led solutions to food insecurity.
For example, one project – Racial Equity Advancing Community Health (REACH) – brings together community members, leaders and organizations to address racial inequities and access to healthy foods in Fort Lauderdale’s Sistrunk neighborhood.
The MOBILE SCHOOL PANTRY
Partnering with Title I schools in Broward County, the Mobile School Pantry (MSP) program creates “pop‑up” choice pantries where families can select the foods that best meet their needs. Students and their families can access fresh produce and shelf‑stable items throughout the school year in a farmer’s‑market environment. Along with food, the program connects families to the support they need to achieve greater food security.
food is life & health
Healthy food helps families stay strong. The Food Is Life and Health program teaches simple ways to eat better through fun cooking classes, easy recipes, and live demonstrations. We also share why good nutrition is especially important for pregnant moms and growing babies. By making fresh food easier to get - and easier to use - we help families build healthy habits that last.
HARVEST DRIVE
SFHC mentors and supports an all-volunteer food provider that assists children and families in need who are referred by local school guidance counselors and social workers. Harvest Drive is one of numerous food distribution and feeding programs SFHC manages in collaboration with local pantries and partners
ADDITIONAL EFFORTS
Additional efforts supported by the South Florida Hunger Coalition include:
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Nutrition and food security programs targeting the nutritional needs of the unhoused, at-risk adults, and teen students
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Community and school-based garden projects, including innovative gardening techniques
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Mobile markets and cooking demonstrations
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Partnerships with the national Food Is Medicine Coalition.
TESTIMONIALS
How the Decline of Black-Owned Businesses Affects Food Access in Sistrunk: Veronica’s Story
Growing up, Veronica remembers Sistrunk as a bustling marketplace, the mecca of Black entrepreneurship. "We had everything. There was the barbershop, the hospital, a photo studio, shoe stores, the electric store, a record shop, and Zeno’s Furniture, where everybody who was anybody bought their furniture," she said, her voice tinged with nostalgia. "It was the center of Black life in Fort Lauderdale. We didn't have to leave our neighborhood for anything. Everything we needed was right here."
"When I was growing up, it was a different world. We couldn’t shop at the white-owned stores, so everything we needed was in our community, right there on 6th street, from fresh produce to meats. "But then, as things changed and segregation ended, we suddenly had more options. It was supposed to be a good thing, but it wasn’t always better.”
As the restrictions of Jim Crow faded and new stores opened, “suddenly we could shop at the white establishments, so we did. We’d go across the track… there was a new shopping mall in downtown Ft. Lauderdale with department stores, clothing, and shoe stores. So, we went there… because we COULD go there!”
She remembers when food choices were local, personal, and culturally relevant, but that all began to change as the years went on. …As she reflects on her community’s needs, Veronica ties the issue of food access to the larger changes happening in Sistrunk. “Even with the redevelopment happening now, I’m not sure how many of those businesses are Black-owned,” she said. “From what I can tell, it’s mostly outside developers. They need to make space affordable for Black entrepreneurs to return. 6th Street was ours, everything we needed was there, and it could be again if they made it work for us.”
She paused, frustrated. “When they first started talking about redevelopment, I thought they’d offer funding to help Black businesses, but that’s not happening. One guy I know was told he needed hundreds of thousands of dollars to open a business—how are Black people supposed to come up with that? It’s not realistic. The program isn’t set up for us.”
“If they really want to revitalize our community, they need to make it work for us. The businesses that used to thrive here—they were ours. If they want to help, they need to make it affordable for Black entrepreneurs to get started, that’s how we’ll make 6th Street Black again.”