More than 163,000 Marion County residents struggle with food insecurity. Officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will soon carry emergency food bags to help those facing hunger during crisis calls.
Starting this month, IMPD’s Mobile Crisis Assistance Team (MCAT) will use a two-question screening survey and distribute food bags provided by the American Heart Association. Each bag contains enough healthy food for at least one meal, nutrition education materials, and referrals to local food pantries and assistance programs.
“Good nutrition and access to healthy food is the foundation of good health,” said Lynne Griffin, vice president of community impact for the American Heart Association in Indiana. “Working with IMPD and their MCAT team allows us to get food and other resources to help people get on the path to better health.”
The program will place emergency food bags in all six IMPD districts, allowing MCAT and other officers to respond to hunger during calls. The MCAT team handles more than 2,500 calls each year, with officers paired alongside licensed mental health clinicians for live crisis situations and follow-up visits.
“As police officers, we’re often meeting people in some of their worst moments,” said IMPD Sgt. Justin Toussing. “Food insecurity is a real issue that affects all walks of life, and having the American Heart Association partner with us to provide food bags and resources allows officers to provide immediate help to those in need and make a positive impact beyond the call we’re responding to.”
Building on Existing Efforts
In Central Indiana, the American Heart Association works with more than 20 organizations to provide food-related resources, often pairing those efforts with blood pressure monitoring programs to reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes. The organization includes healthy eating as one of its Life’s Essential 8 factors for ideal heart health.
This article was written by John Herrick for WISH-TV.
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