By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

Last week marked an important milestone for Vital Bridges, the local organization that since 1988 has been providing nutritious meals for Chicagoans with HIV/AIDS. On Oct. 29, the organization served its 10 millionth meal.

Debbie Hinde, Vital Bridges’ exec. dir. and CEO, said that while the occasion was worthy of commemoration, it was somewhat somber.

“It’s such a reminder of the impact of HIV/AIDS across the metro area,” Hinde said, adding that the work “just keeps going on.”

Vital Bridges officials don’t know who the client was who received that 10 millionth meal, or where. The organization maintains five sites in the region—Edgewater, Garfield Park, Englewood, Oak Park and Elk Grove Village—with about 1500 clients between them.

The difficult economy has, unfortunately, ensured that the organization’s work must continue. “The number of our new intakes has increased dramatically,” according to Hinde.

Hinde came to Vital Bridges from another organization, Teen Living, which did outreach to young people, 13 years ago. She had already seen the devastation brought on by the AIDS epidemic.

“I had seen staff and young people dying. We were going to a lot of funerals,” she said.

When she started, Vital Bridges was mainly a meal delivery service for persons dying from AIDS. But Hinde and her colleagues noticed a gradual shift as new medications became widely available in the late 1990s.

Vital Bridges’s clients were living longer, and the organization’s mission shifted. Vital Bridges was now mainly helping its clients on the road to a healthy life in the face of a long-term illness.

“That was a total shift. We weren’t seeing so many people dying,” Hinde said.

Vital Bridges’s clients are usually in dire financial circumstances; most have monthly incomes of less than $700. The organization’s base, according to Hinde, is “the intersection between people with HIV/AIDS and the poorest members of our community.”

She was careful to point out the difference between Vital Bridges and a regular food pantry. Most food pantries are only able to deliver to their clients what happens to be on the shelf that day. Vital Bridges is stocked with food carefully chosen to meet the long-term needs of a person with HIV/AIDS.

“That’s the point of difference. It’s about the right food in the right quantity,” Hinde said. “We have a fairly consistent menu—high quality food and healthy food.”

In the end, according to Hinde, “food is really medicine.”

She credited much of the organization’s success to its volunteers. About 500 people dedicate their time to Vital Bridges over the course of a week.

“Some have been doing this for 15 or 20 years,” Hinde said. “The commitment they bring to their jobs is overwhelming. Without the volunteers, the food service simply wouldn’t happen. They’re the workforce,” she added.

And she said that Vital Bridges’s clients notice the work and appreciate it. “I can’t tell you how many clients tell us how grateful they are. The volunteers are so concerned about them—it’s an honor to witness and participate.”