While undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, Flossmoor resident Ann Jackson overheard a patient getting treatment conversing. The patient and her husband were discussing a major concern, one Jackson learned many cancer patients have — how were they going to afford to eat. That put Jackson, a cancer survivor, on the path to launching the Center for Food Equity in Medicine. The nonprofit works to address food insecurity among cancer patients, says Jackson, who has lost loved ones to cancer and is driven to give back to others even in the face of personal tragedies. As many as 55% of people battling cancer are also troubled by food insecurity, according to estimates published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. When Jackson was undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center in Hyde Park, she said she would hear people talking to their loved ones about their cancer related struggles. “Often times you would hear people trying to figure out how to cover the cost of gas to come for treatment, how are they going to cover their parking, how are they going to cover people who are helping them,” she said. Patients are grateful to have family or a friend take them back and forth to treatment and would sometimes offer to give them money for breakfast or lunch, she said. They might have money for the person to get food, but not for themselves. The Center for Food Equity in Medicine is tackling food insecurity on multiple fronts, making food available at no cost to cancer patients and others battling life altering illnesses. Its programs include the Grocery Brigade, a service for immunocompromised individuals and their loved ones who need to limit their exposure to the community. Volunteers bring groceries to families’ homes and follow social distancing and contactless delivery recommendations, Jackson said. The center also sets up farmers market style pop-up nutrition stations at health care sites and other locations during the year where individuals and families can choose from an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, spices and other foods and also get basic household items. During the Thanksgiving and winter holiday seasons, the center partners with community organizations to provide bundles of groceries for holiday meals and other food as well as gifts that they deliver to families’ homes. It provides blankets to cancer patients and its Cards for Caregivers program provides $25 restaurant gift cards for caregivers to use while they wait on patients to finish their day’s treatment. Ann Jackson, founder and executive director of the Center for Food Equity in Medicine. (Ann Jackson) The center also provides information and helps connect cancer patients to other supportive resources. Since 2020, working with volunteers, a small staff and with the help of grants, donations and the support of community partners, the center has served 8,709 individuals in 2,447 households across metropolitan Chicago and in other states, said Jackson and a representative. Jackson knows all too well how cancer can affect families. Her dad passed away from cancer, and two siblings were diagnosed with cancer including a brother who passed away from cancer last year. Jackson and her husband, Aubrey Jackson, who volunteers at the center, are grieving over the loss of their son and daughter last year. Their son, Ashaun Jackson, died in May of Rosai-Dorfman disease, a rare disorder; and their daughter, Aesha Jackson, died of complications from small bowel cancer in December. Both often helped out at the center. Aesha Jackson and Ashaun Jackson, the late children of Ann and Aubrey Jackson, with their cousin, Malik Wright. (Ann Jackson) “Our sadness and service can exist in the same space,” Ann Jackson said, noting as they deal with their own grief, the couple remains committed to helping others and know that is what their children would have wanted. In the years before she launched the center, Jackson, who has worked as a physical therapist and who is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, was appointed to the University of Chicago’s Comprehensive Cancer Center Patient and Family Advisory Council. She also was accepted into the University of Chicago’s MacLean Center for Clinical and Medical Ethics’ fellowship program and was inspired by a lecture on hospital-based food insecurity given by Dr. Stacy Lindau, a physician and University of Chicago professor. Jackson partnered with Lindau and others at the Comprehensive Cancer Center to open a Feed1st pantry at the Cancer Center in Hyde Park in November 2017. “It was one of the first pantries inside a cancer center in the Midwest,” Jackson said. The food pantry has no barriers to entry, said Lindau. It is open to cancer patients, their families, staff, students, anyone who needs food and requires no documentation or permission. Ann was a champion of the cancer center Hyde Park location, said Lindau, who called her “a tremendous patient advocate for people living with cancer.” Proper nutrition is critical for those battling cancer and is often difficult to obtain for many as they deal with challenges that typically include a whole new range of incurred costs. Their time becomes burdened with doctors’ appointments and treatment visits. They often have to take leave from work or may lose their job, affecting their income, Lindau said. Meanwhile, they’re dealing with the cost of medications and treatments and making choices on treatments including chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, she said. Some are forced to choose between food and treatment. “When nutrition is poor, when food is scarce, the body has a harder time recovering,” she said. Park Forest resident Tracell Parker, a licensed clinical social worker, is among cancer survivors who have received help from the Center for Food Equity in Medicine. The center, which is housed at Flossmoor Community Church, delivered food to her home, provided her with Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets and gave her information on other community resources, she said. “Ann’s program is a beacon of light,” said Parker. “When you have a program there to provide food and other resources for you and your family, that takes away part of the worry.” Parker is now a volunteer with the center as is board member Jennifer Washington and breast cancer survivor Trudy Taylor. Taylor said as she was navigating cancer, she had a strong support system. “I never missed a meal or had to worry about a meal pre, during or post cancer,” she said. “I feel so grateful, and I want to help people who maybe would not be able to eat.” Taylor said volunteering has become a family affair with her siblings and husband helping out. The center has more than 100 different volunteers throughout the year and a core group of 25 to 30, said Angela Kelly, center director of engagement. It is funded through grants, donations and via revenue it generates assisting organizations in creating scalable, sustainable open-access nutrition stations. It holds fundraising events throughout the year, and this past Martin Luther King Day weekend as part of a Do Good Weekend, the center held a blood and food donation drive and collected donations at a free classical concert sponsored by Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson at Flossmoor Community Church. “Dr. King believed in the power of the collective,” Jackson said. “Our goal all the time is to show up for our neighbors. We want to demonstrate that through our actions. We’re just regular people trying to do good.” Francine Knowles is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.