For the families of young people receiving mental health services at Scarborough Health Network (SHN), getting care often means more than medical treatment. It can also be about helping with real-world challenges that impact households and affect health outcomes—such as food insecurity. That is why our team at SHN’s Shoniker Clinic—where we provide outpatient child and adolescent mental health care—came up with the “It Takes a Community” Pantry. This community-driven solution supports families by offering safe and reliable access to nutritious food, as well as personal care products to maintain an active, healthy life.

“We started the pantry because some of our clients were showing up to appointments and hadn’t eaten that day. I could hear their stomachs growling,” said Jessica Rodrigues, a child and youth intake worker and service navigator with Shoniker Clinic, who has also been the lead for this initiative. “It was important for us to do our part to address this issue.”

Launched just over a year ago, the pantry reflects the clinic team’s evidence-based approach to delivering mental health care that helps young clients to achieve rich and meaningful lives. When our clinicians identify clients struggling with food insecurity, they accompany them and their family to a private pantry space, where they can “shop” for the groceries and essentials they need and bring them home in provided grocery bags. This normalized and respectful experience can ease some of the complicated feelings associated with taking donated items home, allowing children and their families to feel dignified and comforted.

Keeping the pantry stocked is an ongoing and diligent effort, especially because our Shoniker Clinic team works to fill the shelves with donations that align with the wide diversity of Scarborough’s communities. This means finding food staples, like chickpeas and tinned corned beef, and care products, like shampoo and make-up for diverse hair textures and skin tones, that our families commonly use in their diets and cultures—helping to create a sense of familiarity and continuity during times of instability.

Many families who have used the pantry have expressed gratitude for the clinic proactively bringing forward this initiative to meet their needs.

“I’m grateful that I have the support of the team and this extra help with food to get me through the challenges I’m going through,” said one of the clients following their pantry shopping experience.

In addition to pantry items, families can also directly apply through a fund facilitated by SHN Foundation for extra support, such as grocery gift cards, public transit passes to attend appointments, or tablets to enable virtual care. These supports are offered with consent and aim to reduce barriers to care while empowering clients to stay connected and engaged.

“We know that effective mental health care goes beyond therapy and medication. This pantry is one of many ways we are helping to achieve SHN’s strategic direction to improve population health and health equity—by creating real, tangible solutions that address the broader social determinants of health,” shared Megan Cameron, Manager of Mental Health Services at Shoniker Clinic.

“When we remove the stress of food insecurity, which can further exhaust mental state and stability, we allow young people and their families to focus on what matters—healing.”

How you can help

Donations from our community help keep the pantry stocked and accessible year-round. If you would like to support the “It Takes a Community” Pantry, we welcome non-perishable food items, especially those commonly used in culturally diverse households.

Most needed items include:

  • Pasta and pasta sauce
  • Instant coffee, tea, and hot chocolate
  • Sugar, oil, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise
  • Peanut butter, lentils, and rice
  • Dairy alternatives (e.g., shelf-stable plant-based milks)
  • Small bags of flour and spices (salt, black pepper, garlic powder, curry powder)
  • Canned meats (corned beef, chicken, salmon, tuna, chili)
  • Boxed mac and cheese and instant noodles

Donations can be dropped off at a donation bin in the waiting room of the Shoniker Clinic (2877A Ellesmere Road, Scarborough), or the bin inside the General Hospital main entrance (3050 Lawrence Ave E, Scarborough). Together, we can ensure that every young person in our care not only receives exceptional mental health support, but does so in a community that sees, supports, and nourishes them.