To learn more about our area's food support programs,
just call FORK's Family Food Helpline.
The Family Food Helpline is a collaborative partnership between Feed Our Rural Kids and the Vilas and Oneida County Departments of Human Services.
“We created the Family Food Helpline as a ‘go-to’ resource to support food insecure households in times of crisis."
Kate Gardner - Retired Director of Vilas County Department of Health Services
Simply by its existence, the Family Food Helpline gives area residents a road map to nutritional support that will make challenging times easier to navigate.
When you need food, you can get help, just call the Family Food Helpline.
“The Family Food Helpline is the place to turn when you or your family’s food security is in question."
Mary Rideout – Past Director of Oneida County Health Services
In 2022, the Vilas and Oneida County departments of Human Services partnered with Feed Our Rural Kids (FORK) to create the Family Food Helpline. The helpline is a food-centric, toll-free, confidential, support access, tool for food-insecure households across Vilas and Oneida counties.
Our thought process around the creation of this tool was, and still is, to provide area residents with an easy to access source for information about the specific food resources closest to where they live. Callers are not only able to access information regarding the larger federal or state funded programming, but also they are directed to the smaller, locally available food resources as well. This is particularly important to those individuals and families who may not qualify for government run programs, yet still need help.
Also important, the information callers receive is being constantly updated to ensure accuracy. With change being the only constant, information accuracy is very difficult to maintain; programs close, contact information changes, qualifications change, hours of service shift.
Connecting food-insecure families to their county's trained Economic Support Staff is a great first step in helping them to get back on their feet. Food insecurity is not something families can plan for. Sometimes “life” just happens. Now, the Family Food Helpline is there to steer them toward the helping hand they need.
The Family Food Helpline is such a resource. So, when you need food, we can help. Just call 888-479-FORK.