Fighting Food Insecurity: How B. J. Osuagwu ’20 Is Leading Change at Healthy Waltham 

Chukwuemeka “B. J.” Osuagwu ’20 majored in political science and sociology at Gordon and is now the executive director of Healthy Waltham. We sat down with him to learn more about his role and the fight against food insecurity. 

What is Healthy Waltham? How do they fight food insecurity?  

We help fight food insecurity through food access programs. The goal is to come alongside people facing food crisis on multiple levels for multiple reasons and provide food subsidies to help feed people around Waltham. There’s an underrepresented and underserved community that exists because of the wealth disparity of Waltham, so these individuals don’t always get the services they need. We’re here to fill those gaps and provide services they wouldn’t get otherwise.  

Before the pandemic we focused on education, food insecurity and health. We were in a number of schools serving as program managers to teach kids about healthy lifestyle choices. But when the schools closed during Covid, a lot of students suddenly didn’t have access to the subsidized food the schools served. We saw the need and decided to step in. 

We’ve had a food pantry twice a month since Covid, and now we’re in the process of moving into a permanent home, which will let us open the pantry four to five times a week, doubling the number of people we can help.   

What is your role? What does your job look like on a daily basis?  

As the executive director I do a little bit of everything. I’m in charge of fundraising, programming, staff management, board development, organizational expansion, budgets, audits…anything that involves running an organization. My main job is to ensure the organization runs on a clear path while strategizing how we can take the next serious steps to expand, setting us up for future success. 

On any given day I could have a call with Amy and Terri, who are on our audit team. Organizations like Healthy Waltham that fundraise a certain amount every year in Massachusetts have to do an audit for taxes, and it’s a very arduous process. Then I’ll have a meeting with the Be Well cohort at Mass General Mount Auburn hospital, with whom we’ve been partners for years, and they provide us with either food or financial assistance. 

At the start of a new year, we talk about end-of-year giving totals compared to last year, and I meet with our fundraising director to discuss grants we could apply for, all of which require extensive processes. Basically, every part of my job requires building relationships, from my team members to our partners to the people we serve. 

What are some things you’ve learned about the causes of food insecurity?  

There are two big things. First, people with food insecurity have a lot of different faces. We have a lot of college students that come to our pantry because they can’t afford the meal plan or it doesn’t provide adequate or culturally relevant food for them. Or we see people below the poverty line. Because grocery prices are getting so expensive, we’re serving a more diverse number of people in different economic pools now than before.  

The second thing I’ve learned is how important the time of year is. We don’t always think of food insecurity as something that ebbs and flows with the year. There are times where families have a food crisis because their kid is home from school on break, and it’s a mouth to feed that they didn’t have [at home the] week before. They have to utilize money needed for other thing, yet still can’t get their ends met for the week. It’s hard, especially for bigger families. Some are multigenerational families with 10-12 people living together on the income of one or two working family members, so access and resources are extremely scarce.   

Did Gordon prepare you for this role? If so, how? 

Gordon prepared me so well; I wouldn’t be in this role if not for Gordon. I was a Clarendon Scholar, which is how I met Paulea McCoy, who was one of my first mentors. She started working for the Boston Project in Dorchester, and she brought me there for a summer position, which is how I fell in love with the people there, as well as youth development and the organization. That job ended up leading me to another nonprofit, which led to another job, which ultimately led me to Healthy Waltham, so everything that I have done has come from me saying yes to the Clarendon Scholarship at Gordon.   

Gordon was also integral to my process of growing as a leader and individual. I and two other students started A.F.R.O. Hamwe, Gordon’s first black student union. That challenged us in a lot of ways, but it gave the black students on campus a place to call home. I also met some of the best people through that group, and I am still in touch with the cohort and the friends I met there. In terms of friendship and mentorship, I wouldn’t have become the leader and social justice advocate I am if not for Gordon.