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Edi Abeneto is food shelf supervisor at Feeding Chittenden, a Burlington-based nonprofit that focuses on hunger relief and serves more than 12,000 people every year.
Abeneto has worked at the organization for more than 17 years. He speaks six languages, and among other duties, he facilitates communication and provides interpretation for visitors from a wide range of backgrounds.
Over time, he said he’s built up trust with visitors that help him connect them to whatever help they need.
“I was able to break down the barriers to food access, you know, and while building trust and communication with the new Americans,” Abeneto said. “So every time they see me here, I can say, be more comfortable because I speak the languages, you know, I give them more information about what we’re doing.
Host Sam Gale Rosen talked to Abeneto about some of what his work involves.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Sam: I started by asking him to explain briefly what kind of things Feeding Chittenden does.
Edi: So Feeding Chittenden is the largest direct food shelf in Vermont. So not only do we provide the direct service, but we do outreach, so we guide people, or we can refer people to other organizations. And we do have some other programs here, like Community Kitchen Academy. So we give training, culinary training to people who are willing to open businesses like restaurants. And that is something we have here helping them to start something new. So we’re here not only to give food but also cultivating opportunity. So we’re trying, you know, to do something for them, so maybe in the future, they can be independent.
Sam: Can you tell me what your position is and what that entails?
Edi: So my role now is to oversee the distribution of food directly to the food shelf visitor and oversee documentation related to the client’s eligibility and confidentiality. So I have to prepare the reports, according to predetermined reporting guidelines, have to manage the movement of the food in the food shelf, including oversight of sorting food and stocking the shelf. And I have another role, to conduct and oversee the Three Squares Vermont outreach and assistance. And as long as we have a client from a different background, I provide translation and interpretation for people who need help.
Sam: And What languages do you speak, in terms of interpretation?
Edi: I speak Swahili. I speak Lingala. I speak French. I speak Kirundi, and I speak Kinyarwanda.
Sam: Wow. And does that set of languages encompass a significant portion of the people who are coming in for help?
Edi: Yes, we have a big number of people who come from Africa and new Americans, and most of them speak those languages, especially Swahili and French.
Sam: Can you talk about why interpretation and facilitating communication with people in different languages is so important?
Edi: Oh, yes, we always have a problem here with people who don’t speak English. So the language barrier is a big problem here. Sometimes they don’t know how to go to ask for services or to accept some services. And not only that, we do have people are coming here, not only for food, but they seek other services. So we’re trying to get them and be a liaison with other programs in our community. So we can help them to fulfill their needs.
Sam: So does that involve sort of helping people feel comfortable with coming to Feeding Chittenden who might otherwise not? Does it involve trying to break down cultural barriers to that?
Edi: Yeah. So when they come here, most of the time, they don’t speak the language, or they’re not used to the food we have in our American diets. So we have to explain them, we have to guide them through our groceries line to explain them, but most of them, they’re not used to American foods. So we’re trying to substitute that, now we’re trying to offer more culturally responsive foods.
Sam: Could you give a couple examples of sort of what you’re trying to do to make more culturally appropriate foods available to different populations?
Edi: So an example: people coming from Africa or people who are coming from South America. When we have, for example, beans — we always have beans in our stock — but they always choose the dry beans instead of canned beans. So everything they’re trying to use, it’s fresh or dry. They’re not used to food which is canned or which is frozen. And we do have some produce here they’re not used to or they don’t know how to cook that. So we’ll just explain to them how to cook that so they can use them in their diets.
Sam: And do you feel like you’ve been making progress in terms of getting people of different cultural backgrounds to be willing to use the services that you’re offering and understanding what’s being offered and taking advantage of them?
Edi: There’s a lot of progress, you know, because I remember, we didn’t have a lot of people coming here for our services. But now we have different people from different backgrounds coming using our services. And before, we didn’t introduce any cultural responsive food on our shelf. So now we have like beans, we have rice. And we try to encourage them to use other services like Three Squares Vermont, and we’re trying to refer them to other programs if they need a job, if they need translation, things like that.
Sam: And your own background: You’ve been working at Feeding Chittenden for over 17 years. Is that right?
Edi: Yes. I’ve been here for 17 years now.
Sam: And what kind of different roles have you been in over that time?
Edi: So that’s a good question. So I started here as a translator, and after that I was working 20 hours a week, helping people to translate, to interpret, when they come here, and after that, I became a full-time employee. So I became the distribution coordinator. My role, it was to just distribute food directly to the food visitors. And I prepared statistical reports of the food shelf. And most of the time, it was just referring people to other services.
Sam: And do you think that it helps you in your current position the level of trust you might have built up with various communities having just been doing this for so many years?
Edi: Yeah, I think so. Because now you know, I was able to break down the barriers to food access, you know, and while building trust and communication with the new Americans. So every time they see me here, I can say, be more comfortable because I speak the languages, you know, I give them more information about what we’re doing. And even if they have something which is not related to the food, the rest talk to me, so that I can refer them to another program.
Sam: How would you like to see Feeding Chittenden change and grow and serve people in more different ways?
Edi: I think that’s the hope — to grow, having multiple locations in Chittenden County, for those who don’t have transportation to reach our services here in Burlington. And I think that’s my goal — offer more culturally responsive food to a neighbor.
Sam: And Edi, can you talk a little bit about your own background before coming to Vermont? And how it might have prepared you to serve in a role like this?
Edi: Yes. So I am from the Congo, DRC, Congo-Kinshasa. And I grew up in Congo. And in 1997, when there were wars starting in the Congo, I went to Tanzania. And from Tanzania, I was in the refugee camp, helping people there. So I was a volunteer with the Food Watch program. So I stayed there for a couple years. And after that, I came to America to join my family. So my food passion started in the refugee camp when I was helping them distributing foods to refugees.
Sam: What about food in particular appeals to you as a means of breaking down barriers or helping people in general?
Edi: So you know, I grew up in, I can say, environments where people didn’t have food. They didn’t have anything. And so I was here, and I see the waste we have in the United States compared to other people who don’t have access to food, and that’s why I have that passion, helping people, yeah.
