It was 8:30 in the morning. Seven men and women sat around a large conference table. Five other people were on the Teams call virtually on the big screen in front of them.
The group was part of the ODHS Incident Management Team recently stood up in Salem as part of Governor Tina Kotek’s Executive Order “Declaring a Hunger Emergency to Protect Oregonians from Suspension of Federal Supplemental Assistance program (SNAP).”
The group was led by Ed Flick, the director of the ODHS Office of Resilience and Emergency Management. A list of objectives was scrawled in green Magic Marker across two white boards on the wall behind where Flick paced, directing team members.
The IMT is working with partners across the state to keep track of food access and strengthen current food systems. The main tasks include:
- Finding individuals and families who don’t have food or are at high risk of running out.
- Watching food supply levels in communities statewide.
- Helping move food to areas that need it most.
- Coordinating actions between state agencies to make delivery faster and easier.
- Checking and tracking efforts from district and local offices.
- Supporting the Oregon Food Bank and other community food networks.
- Sharing information so communities know what help is available.
Flick also was pushing hard to get 1,500 food boxes filled and delivered to the most vulnerable people. He directed a team member to order the needed food. “Our main effort is to get food into the community and to those most vulnerable,” Flick said.
This was just one of the intense meetings of the day. It was like an action-adventure movie watching the room of people – some in cubicles clacking away on their computers, some talking on the phone sounding urgent. Small groups formed around someone’s desk checking in with each other to get the tasks at hand done for the minute, the hour, the day.
Flick talked about the actions needed from the IMT right now. He was in his office standing up while eating a slice of pizza left over from the day before. On the table were copies of the Governor’s Executive Order. A plastic water bottle was half full on the table. His coat hung from the corner of a shelf. Someone stopped in to give him a can of Coke. Flick looked up and thanked the person.
Flick laid out exactly the goal and directive from the Executive Order: “Do everything we can with the limited resources we have. ODHS is in a position to take this leadership role. We provide support to people every day through our partnerships in the community. We are doing this work while also continuing to do the disaster work in Central Oregon and in The Dalles for the people who lost homes in the wildfires,” he said.
OREM has about 50 staff members who work to provide food, water and housing to people in disasters such as floods, storms, freezing temperatures and wildfires.
On the white board written in red marker Flick had written:
- Help people find food in their communities.
- Build community capacity to provide food.
Other meetings filled the day, such as the Cooperators Meeting, which was with local emergency managers and other community services. There was the Communication Meeting with a PowerPoint describing the rollout of information that was to be done for people on SNAP, for ODHS partners, for the Legislature and for staff.
And that was just one day in the Department Operations Center.
Now that the federal government shutdown has ended and SNAP benefits are restored, there is still an ongoing need for food across Oregon. According to the Oregon Food Bank: “While SNAP benefits in Oregon are restored for the month of November, we cannot look away. While the restoration of November benefits brings short-term relief, it also reminds us how easily policy decisions can disrupt access to food and why we must stay engaged.”
The ODHS Incident Management Team will continue its work throughout the declared food emergency to make sure the people in Oregon have access to the food they need and also to use the information to be better prepared in any future disasters. Read the Governor’s Executive Order No. 25-27.
