Miami Valley Meals has a new a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton to stock the freezers of new homeowners with prepared meals.
The partnership kicked off in February when Miami Valley Meals provided 12 to 15 meals for a family moving into a Habitat home in New Carlisle.
Habitat for Humanity has been operating out of Dayton since 1983, working to provide affordable housing and critical repairs to those in need.
That effort includes the Habitat Home Build program which strives to build eight to 10 new modest and affordable homes for the community.
Miami Valley Meals' communications director Taylor Naragon said the homes will get stocked with frozen meals at their dedication ceremonies.
"They can last months at a time as long as the freezer is properly temperature controlled," she said.
Naragon said their meals are typically curated based on donated goods, leading to a changing menu day to day.
"We never really do the exact same recipe or the exact combination because it's dependent on what we have," she said. "Our running joke is that we're always playing 'Chopped,' like the Food Network show."
Miami Valley Meals currently provides 4,000 pre-cooked and packaged meals to over 50 local nonprofits a week.
Naragon said it's thanks to their Executive Director Amanda DeLotelle that they are expanding those partnerships to work with with Habitat.
"She thought 'Wouldn't that make sense if the meals are already prepared.' That is what makes us stand out from a food pantry: the meals are prepared. You just have to heat it up and eat it," she said. "I think something just pinged in her head that she was like, 'Well, wouldn't this be perfect for Habitat."
Naragon said the pre-made meals should provide an extra layer of relief for families as they navigate a big move.
“Wouldn't it be a nice little treat to give them a stack of meals for their first week to kind of just breathe, celebrate this accomplishment with their family, and you know get things going after that," she said.
Marsha Martin, home owners services program manager with Habitat, said the first family to benefit from this partnership has already expressed gratitude for those meals that they can easily reheat in a microwave or oven.
“The people are so grateful and so thankful," she said. "I just can't wait to do it for the next two families that we have.”
Martin said their next meal distribution with Miami Valley Meals will take place March 20 in Miamisburg.
"Then we have another family coming up a week later on the 27th which will be here in Dayton and that is a family of four, a mother with three daughters," she said.
Naragon said they hope to continue to provide meals for Habitat’s future home dedications as this partnership continues to evolve.
"We thought it was just a natural fit," she said. "Home and food are the basic needs we all have so having them go together is just perfect."
