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_{Tech graduate student Krissie Miranda prepares meals for a local food bank.}

When Tennessee Tech University graduate student Krissie Miranda volunteered to serve in the food bank at First United Methodist Church in Cookeville last summer, she learned something that greatly concerned her. Though community members experiencing homelessness were provided with plenty of food during the week, on the weekends many of the facilities they relied on were either closed or had limited hours.

“One particular story that deeply resonated with me was from a young homeless woman struggling to properly manage her diabetes due to inconsistent access to food,” Miranda said. “She expressed the immense difficulty of maintaining proper diabetic care while living on the streets, emphasizing the critical importance of consistent access to nutritious food for her health.”

Miranda decided she could be part of the solution. Partnering with the church, she has kicked off what she calls the Weekend Nourishment Project: a plan to help ensure that those experiencing homelessness in Cookeville have consistent access to nutritious meals on Saturdays and Sundays.

Working together with Tamika Parker, director of servant ministries at First United Methodist, they came up with the idea of a refrigerated vending machine that would be set up on the church’s property and would hold items like canned goods, protein bars, sandwiches and healthy snacks. The food would come from the church’s food pantry, which is supplied by Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee, a food bank that gets its donations from grocery stores, farms, manufacturers, distributors and individuals.

“Additionally, we are exploring a partnership with Tennessee Tech University, aiming to involve the next graduate class in the nutrition program to actively participate in preparing meals for the vending machine as part of their community service hours,” Miranda said.

The machine would use a token or pre-paid card system to allow 24/7 access. The tokens or cards would be handed out during office hours at the church on Fridays.

Miranda and Parker have already started working on their plan, having located an appropriate used vending machine and the church having approved funding for the machine’s purchase. However, there are still many steps to complete before their idea becomes reality. For example, the Health Department must approve the vending machine before it is purchased and installed, and electrical work must be done on the vending machine to program it to accept the tokens/cards.

“While challenges may arise, we're fully committed to a thorough implementation process to ensure this initiative’s success,” Miranda said. “If realized, this could potentially be the first program of its kind in Tennessee directly providing weekend meals for the homeless through an automated vending system.”

In her research, Miranda found that Tennessee ranks 35th among all U.S. states for food insecurity, with over 11.5% of households in Putnam County struggling to access adequate nutrition. Simultaneously, the state's unhoused population has spiked by 45.6% over the past two years to 10,567 individuals as of 2022 - the 5th highest increase nationwide.

“This groundbreaking initiative could potentially become a blueprint for tackling similar challenges across the region,” Miranda said. “We’re dedicated to further developing partnerships to bring this vision to reality and create lasting change.”

 

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