The Greater Chicago Food Depository, which distributes food to over 800 partners in Cook County, notified Fraternite Notre Dame on April 20 that, in 60 days, it would no longer deliver food to its pantry or soup kitchen.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository said it terminated Fraternite Notre Dame’s operational agreement after food depository employees on recent site visits reported issues with food safety and discrimination at the Catholic religious order’s facility. They said Fraternite Notre Dame, at 502 N. Central Ave. across the street from Austin Town Hall Park, has failed to provide an equitable, dignified experience for guests who get food there.
Sister Marie, who’s a part of Fraternite Notre Dame, told Austin Weekly News that the religious order in Austin serves, on average, 300 to 500 families every Wednesday from 2 to 5 p.m. through its weekly food pantry. She said they have been doing so for 28 years and working with the food depository for most of that time.
“They have no evidence, they just make assumptions like that with no proof,” Sister Marie said of the food depository’s accusations against Fraternite Notre Dame’s food pantry. “Our evidence is the hundreds of people who receive food every week.”
With their partnership with the food depository ending, Sister Marie said Fraternite Notre Dame will have less food to distribute and is looking for other partnerships or donors who can help fill the hole — especially on such short notice.
“Usually when you have something wrong, we are used to having to deal with the health department and other entities. When there is something wrong, they give you a notice and you have to fix the thing, and they come again,” Sister Marie said. She added that the Greater Chicago Food Depository told the religious order the week after their site visit that their partnership would end. “Right away, without warning, they terminated the program.”
According to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, their employees observed that guests lined up for Fraternite Notre Dame’s food pantry were segregated based on language and heard reports from Black guests that they were served after Hispanic guests. The food depository also told the religious order that distribution was disorganized, the intake process was inefficient — including registering guests hours before distribution and errors entering accurate guest information in the system — and that boxes used to distribute food were dirty or moldy.
“This was not a decision we took lightly and was made due to numerous, egregious compliance issues identified during recent site visits that span multiple critical areas,” the Greater Chicago Food Depository told Austin Weekly News.
Sister Marie said Fraternite Notre Dame usually receives food on Tuesdays, when volunteers pack boxes of produce and dry food items. When distribution starts on Wednesdays, volunteers add refrigerated items like meat, milk and eggs to the boxes. If Fraternite Notre Dame has extra produce or dry goods after filling boxes for guests, they put them on a table or pallets outside, where guests can pick up additional items if they show their registration ticket.
“I heard that some people felt frustrated because they received the remainder of the distribution. That’s because they came after hours,” Sister Marie said. “If we still have food, we give it to them, but that’s not what they would have at the beginning of the distribution.”
As for allegations of segregating guests, Sister Marie said volunteers are able to more efficiently serve food pantry attendees in two lines.
“We have some volunteers speaking English, and they cannot communicate easily with the Spanish-speaking people,” Sister Marie said. “We have some Hispanic volunteers. They don’t communicate easily with the English-speaking people, so we had the idea to make two lines. But it’s not discrimination. It’s just to make the process more easy and smooth.” She added that Fraternite Notre Dame has just one line for their soup kitchen, which the food depository has also cut ties with.
“If you go to the doctor, you have to wait. You go to the airport, you have to wait your turn,” Sister Marie said. “Some people are very impatient. Some people actually are abusive, but it’s not us. We try to calm them down.”
But some don’t see the pantry lines that way.
“I cannot support an agency that I know acts in a discriminatory manner. I urge the agency to act immediately to address the concerns raised by the Chicago Food Depository,” State Rep. La Shawn Ford said in a statement. “It is crucial that we strengthen and expand support for other food pantries on the West Side. I am strongly opposed to the treatment maintained by this organization and its effects on our community.”
Sister Marie said a food depository employee who came to inspect the religious order’s facility the week before their partnership ended seemed bored. She said this employee took food from the pantry and gave it to a man who already received a box of food when others in line hadn’t, and called one of the priests a liar when he told her the religious order didn’t distribute registration tickets to guests at 8 a.m. — which the food depository accused the pantry of doing, creating crowds and inequitable access.
Sister Marie calls the ending partnership “strange” and “religious persecution.”
“These people are another Christ. We try to give them back their dignity. We know some families have to make a choice between buying the food or paying the rent,” Sister Marie said. “Some people try very hard, but it’s hard for them to find a job. It’s hard for them to survive, so we just try to help them as much as we can.”
“As we navigate the challenges that have emerged in our community programs, it is imperative that we prioritize the dignity and equitable treatment of every individual we serve,” Ford said in a statement. “I believe we must work collaboratively to address these compliance issues head-on and ensure that our services reflect the values of diversity, inclusion, and respect for all.”
Food Depository offers Austin options
The Greater Chicago Food Depository told Austin Weekly News that it is providing information to those who attend Fraternite Notre Dame’s food pantry about other nearby partner pantries and meal programs. Nearby soup kitchens are at Westside Health Authority at 5437 W. Division St. on Thursdays from 2:30-4:40 p.m. and the William V Banks Human Needs Center at 5323 W. Lake St. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1-4 p.m.
The food depository partners with 11 food pantries that serve the Austin area, including:
- Circle Urban Ministries at 118 N. Central Ave., Wednesdays 9-11 a.m. and Thursdays 12-2 p.m.
- New Life Ministries COGIC at 634 N. Austin Blvd., Thursdays 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and Fridays 4:30-6:30 p.m.
- Helping Our People Excel at 5912 W. Iowa St., Fridays 12-2 p.m.
- Pine Avenue United Church at 1015 N. Pine Ave., Tuesdays 9:30-11:30 a.m.
- St. Martin De Porres at 5112 W. Washington Blvd., Wednesdays and Thursdays 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Healing Temple COGIC, 4941 W. Chicago Ave., Fridays 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1511 N. Long Ave., Tuesdays 12-2 p.m., Saturdays 8-10 a.m.
- Heritage International Community Development at 5320 W. North Ave., Thursdays 6-8 p.m.
- United for Better Living at 4540 W. Washington Blvd., Saturdays 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Beyond Hunger at 848 W. Lake St., Wednesdays 3:30-5:30 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Grace and Peace Church at 1856 N. Leclaire Ave., Tuesdays 2-6 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
- The Ark Church at 5040 Roosevelt Rd., Thursdays 4-6 p.m., Fridays 9-11 a.m., Saturdays 8-10 a.m.
Locate a nearby food pantry, soup kitchen or meal program at chicagosfoodbank.org/findfood