David Emerson, ETFB CEO stands in front of potatoes at the ETFB-Tyler Resource Center. (Raquel Villatoro/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Since opening its doors, the East Texas Food Bank’s Tyler Resource Center has seen a steady flow of clients.

The center opened Dec. 19 and so far, has demonstrated its value as a new resource in the community.

As part of its mission to fight hunger and feed hope, the new resource center is part of the food bank’s overall strategic plan aimed at expanding programs, distributing more food and serving more people.

Food bank CEO David Emerson said officials anticipate the center will serve 500 families per week in Smith County.

The Tyler Resource Center is located at the headquarters of the food bank, which is located in an area where 34% of the population lives below the federal poverty line, according to Emerson. The model for the resource center is to provide multiple resources in one location to better serve clients.

“The goal of the Tyler Resource Center is to provide a one-stop-shop of wraparound services with a food pantry, benefits assistance and other support services,” according to the food bank.

The center is one of multiple the food bank has opened or is set to open. Other locations include the Longview Resource Center, Deep East Texas Resource Center in Lufkin, and the soon-to-open Texarkana Resource Center.

Some of the resources offered at the Tyler center include utility assistance, child care programs, nutrition education programs and more.

“It’s partnering with the medical community, it’s partnering with workforce development opportunities, and anything that creates economic mobility for our neighbors in need,” ETFB Chief Impact Officer Kim Morris said. “We don’t want to just be a Band-Aid, we want to be a healing (place) for these families or help them find that healing — to be able to not need our services anymore.”

As part of the mission to feed the hungry, the resource centers also distribute meals to more rural areas. In the last year, the food bank has distributed 52,000 meals from Tyler, Morris said. They also aim to have at least half of their food be nutritious.

“We know that a lot of times, folks won’t take a chance with perishable goods when they’ve got a limited amount of dollars and cents to go to the store with,” Morris said. “That’s why we put a high priority on making available through all of our resource centers and all of our points of distribution, access to fresh produce wherever we can. That’s a huge driver of ours.”

For Penny McLean, the center has been a wonderful resource. She has been able to go weekly and get a box of food filled with nutritious food which included a big bag of blueberries, three pounds of meat, rice, beans, onions, potatoes and canned green beans.

“We all got to this place today on a different path and regardless of that, once you’re down on your luck you can do without a lot of things but once you don’t have enough food, it takes you to the darkest place ever,” McLean said. “Food is everything, you can’t think straight when you don’t have enough food. It’s a sad situation. It’s an absolute need.”

McLean drives from Flint to the resource center to get her food. She found out about the resource center after receiving a golden ticket during a food bank distribution event at Lindsey Park where she started going to get food. She first learned about the Lindsey Park distribution events thanks to a neighbor who shared the details with her. Now, McLean is giving back by telling her other neighbors about the resource center.

“If I can share some of these resources with other people and help them, at least they can eat healthy. That helps their health more and they can be more vigorous,” McLean said. “It makes you feel less than human, if you don’t have your basic needs met.”

The Tyler Resource Center, located at 3201 Robertson Rd., is open from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.