Of Loaves and Fishes: Jeremy Everett and the Texas Hunger Initiative

Upon taking the helm of the Texas Hunger Initiative in 2009, Jeremy Everett, M.Div. ’01, said, “With some organization and creativity, hunger in Texas can be alleviated, and I think we’ll be well on our way to that within six years.” He was right, and federal legislators are taking notice.

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner recently appointed Texas Hunger Initiative Executive Director Jeremy Everett to the National Hunger Commission, a bipartisan panel created by Congress to develop recommendations for combatting domestic hunger. Nominations by U.S. Reps. Bill Flores and Mike Conaway of Texas precipitated the appointment, affirming the impact of THI under Everett’s direction.

“When Congress created the National Commission on Hunger, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives invited nominations for the commission from Congressional Representatives. I immediately thought of Jeremy Everett and wrote a letter to support his nomination,” Flores said.

Of the commission’s 10 appointees representing different regions and economic sectors, only Everett is affiliated with a university. The distinction is important because Baylor interdisciplinary research informs THI’s work and lends credibility to its recommendations.

“Jeremy is an emerging national leader in the anti-hunger community,” Flores said. “His experience and innovation in creating and implementing effective and efficient anti-hunger programs with Baylor University and the Texas Hunger (Initiative) is gaining national exposure. I know that he will bring that same expertise to the commission.”

A proven community organizer and dedicated advocate for the marginalized, Everett has devoted his life to alleviating the systematic challenges faced by vulnerable populations. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Samford University and a Master of Divinity from Baylor’s Truett Seminary, he founded Guadalupe Street Coffee as part of a holistic community development venture to alleviate the root causes of poverty in San Antonio’s West Side, concurrently serving as program director of community ministries with Baptist Child and Family Services.

A compelling example of Informed Engagement, a core aspiration of Baylor’s Pro Futuris strategic vision, THI’s approach to solving the systemic problem of food insecurity is grounded in Christian faith, subject expertise and resource allocation.

The prestigious appointment provides a unique opportunity to influence domestic policy and exemplifies the potential of an informed approach.

“These commissions, when done well, can make a significant impact,” Everett said. He credits the Rural Poverty Commission, established in 1966 under the Lyndon Johnson administration, and President Richard Nixon’s Hunger Summit with guiding the nation’s hunger policy for the subsequent 20 to 30 years.

Long-term solutions are the objective of the commission format, which through bipartisan representation by non-elected stakeholders minimizes the politicization – and stalemate – inherent in standard congressional proceedings.

During the next 18 to 24 months, the Commission will convene regularly to consider two specific questions: 1) How to more effectively use existing programs and funds to combat domestic hunger, and 2) How to develop innovative public-private partnerships. To those who follow THI, these objectives may seem familiar.

“In a lot of ways, what the Commission is set up to achieve are the things we have been doing and have tested,” Everett said. A capacity-building and collaborative project, THI seeks to develop and implement strategies to end hunger through policy, education, community organizing and community development.

“We found strong public-private programs nationally, but full utilization is limited due to lack of infrastructure,” Everett said. More than $6 billion in private and state funds designated for hunger related programs in Texas went unused in 2011, according to THI’s website.

One example is the Summer Meals program, which provides nutritious meals to low-income children who might otherwise go hungry when school is not in session. Between 2008 and 2013, the collaborative efforts of THI and its partners helped increase participation in Texas by nearly 19 percent – or 52,180 more children per day – through the addition of 225 sponsors and 2,891 meal sites.

But successes past and planned are just the prologue for all that can be, according to this visionary servant-leader.

“I don’t think poverty is something we need to be debating in 25 years,” Everett said. “I think we can put people who are in low-income households on a path to prosperity. I think it is fiscally sustainable.”