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The future of our region's economy depends on the power of our partnerships

As the government jobs and contracts that have long been the center of gravity in our region continue to undergo reductions and elimination, our local economy is facing profound disruption. In the next few years, this presents significant challenges for the well-being of an enormous number of our neighbors. In the longer term, it may ultimately present opportunities for creating a more inclusive economy. In both cases, the extent to which we can mitigate harm today and capitalize on the potential for future transformation depends heavily on our ability as a region to lean deeply into the power of cross-sector partnerships. Addressing the immediate need Though we're still in the early phases of this new economic reality, its effects are already evident. Many of the 400 regional nonprofits through which the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) distributes the food for over 60 million meals each year are seeing more people come to their doors for help. These individuals include former federal employees and contractors, and an even greater proportion of people who are economically 'downstream' — for instance, workers in service industries who have experienced cutbacks to hours or wages because of the job loss (or fear of it) of their clients and customers. As more furloughs turn into unemployment and families' savings run out, we anticipate that these impacts will continue to grow. This is all coming at a time when our region was already experiencing high levels of food insecurity: CAFB's most recent Hunger Report revealed that 37% of our neighbors – 1.5 million people – didn't always know where their next meal would come from at some point in 2023. It is also coinciding with reductions in many federal supports just when they are needed the most. The food bank has already seen nearly $1 million trimmed from some of its federal sources of food, and another $1 million-plus reduction to a program that supported its ability to purchase from local farmers. Meanwhile, looming changes to government nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) stand to erode assistance further. The result is a widening gap between the need for services and the resources required to supply them that the food bank, and other nonprofit organizations doing critical work, simply cannot fill on our own. expand A staff member at one of CAFB's multiple pop-up food distributions serving federal workers, contractors, and others impacted by layoffs and funding cuts. Courtesy photo More than ever, we need the partnership and investment of the private sector, along with that of governments at the county and state levels, local and national foundations, and the broader philanthropic community. Working together, we can stave off the worst impacts of the current economic turmoil on the hundreds of thousands of people across the area who are the first and hardest hit in a shaky economy (and often, statistically, the last to recover). Supporting our neighbors now pays multiple dividends. In addition to creating positive outcomes at an individual level, it also helps to lay the groundwork for enabling the growth of the workforce our region needs to succeed — today and most certainly as we re-envision our future economy. Building a new, more inclusive economy for the future In the midst of the rapid changes happening around us, and the immediate need to respond to them, it could be easy to miss that this moment also presents an enormous opportunity to re think the longer-term economic picture of our region, and the ways it can be constructed to benefit far more people than it does today. It is an opportunity we must not ignore. In recent months, leaders from across our area have begun to accelerate discussions about what the new economic engines of the DMV might include, and how we can spur them on. Ideas include everything from enhancing infrastructure like public transit and investing in technologies like AI to growing the regional presence of the aerospace and life science industries. The potential is significant. And in every scenario, an essential component of the vision is a labor pool with the skills to do the jobs. Certainly, this new workforce should and will include those who held previous jobs as federal employees or contractors, and there are initiatives underway to stem outward migration by facilitating those kinds of sector transitions. There is also work being done to support the recruitment of talent from across the country. But this moment also provides the chance to enhance or create structures and systems that will allow people who are already living in our region, but currently on the sidelines of our economy, to more fully engage and bring their talents to bear. We know that that the desire for greater employment opportunities is there. In a survey conducted for one of our recent Hunger Reports, we saw that while 76% of those facing food insecurity in our region are working, 70% of those same individuals are looking for a job that pays higher wages, and 59% are interested in acquiring new skills and training to excel in their current job or get into a new field. expand Hunger Report found that many people facing food insecurity also have a strong desire to gain new job skills and enter new fields of employment. Capital Area Food Bank Building the pipelines that will enable this will not just happen — it will require intention, support structures, and partnerships between sectors, often among actors we may not think of as natural collaborators. Fortunately, we have existing models. For instance, we are partnering with multiple regional institutions of higher learning to provide food that enables people to remain in school or training programs. The knowledge and skills they acquire through these programs help to prepare them for the jobs of the future, fueling their own economic advancement while supplying our local talent pipeline. The food bank is also partnering with local hospitals and medical centers like the University of Maryland Medical Center, Unity Health Care, and Children's National (which serves patients up through college age) to help people get the nutrition they need to improve their health and manage diet-related illness, allowing for greater workforce readiness. expand College leaders speaking at the Regional College Hunger Conference, hosted by CAFB and the Consortium of Universities of the Metropolitan Washington Area. The food bank partners with institutions of higher learning across the region. Alyssa Schukar None of this is occurring in a silo: crafting these types of programs has required significant collaboration and support across sectors in our region. And scaling more initiatives like this to build our new regional economy in ways that benefit more people will take even more of us working together. But there has never been a more important time to lean into these kinds of partnerships. In the current environment, transformation is not optional; for our region's survival, it is now required. Fortunately, while this is a time like no other that we've faced, the COVID-pandemic has very recently shown us that we can rise to any occasion if we evolve rapidly by working together. We can make it through this moment — and emerge stronger from it — by partnering to meet the immediate needs of our neighbors and finding new ways to help all people in our region thrive. To learn more about the Capital Area Food Bank and how you can get involved in its work to provide food and opportunity for people across the DMV, visit The Capital Area Food Bank annually provides more than 60 million meals-worth of food to people in need by supplying food to hundreds of regional nonprofits. It also partners with area organizations to address hunger's root causes by pairing food with critical services such as education and health care. Radha Muthiah is the president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank, overseeing the organization's work to help people across greater Washington thrive by creating more equitable access to food and opportunity through community partnerships.