By Ray LaVoie
The scope of her position may seem straightforward on paper: Her job is to get food to people in need. But her work – like her life – encompasses much more than that. The truth, as she’s come to know it, is that food is rarely an isolated issue.
“What I’ve discovered over the years is that it’s all connected, especially with poor people,” she says. “Poor people’s lives are tied to all of those systems – the legal system, housing, school – it’s all connected, because all of them put barriers up for their success.”
Youngsteadt-Parrish’s dedication to improving those circumstances began when she was young.
At age 8, Youngsteadt-Parrish’s family moved from the U.S. to Africa, where she lived for nearly a decade, returning in time to finish her senior year of high school stateside. Her years spent in Algiers, Ethiopia and Sudan proved formative to her worldview.
“I think I was privileged to see people who have little to nothing and still live their lives and talk to you and are nice and are friendly and say, ‘Hi,’” she says. “So maybe that’s my foundation.”
Her father worked with the United States Agency for International Development, which provides foreign aid and development assistance, so Youngsteadt-Parrish was taught the importance of helping others through example.
Though many issues have garnered Youngsteadt-Parrish’s attention – she’s previously worked with Lifeline of Ohio, Capital Humane Society and Southeastern Ohio Legal Services – food stood out early on. In fact, one of her first political activities was a march against hunger organized by Jesse Jackson around 1970.
“Food is such an integral part of growing up and when you don’t have it, it affects you,” she says. “We don’t think about that because we can’t see hunger.”
Work relating to food insecurity has been a recurring trend throughout Youngsteadt-Parrish’s career, but the Dublin Food Pantry has proven uniquely rewarding.
“Dublin has been a really good experience for me,” she says. “I am so impressed, pleased, with the way that the Dublin community supports us. It is phenomenal. I have never worked in a food pantry where the city supports you.”
In addition to the City of Dublin, Youngsteadt-Parrish says collaboration between local organizations is key to success. The pantry can refer clients to One Dublin and Dublin Bridges, for example, to aid with needs beyond food.
A partnership with the Tolles Career & Technical Center allows the pantry to refer clients with vehicle trouble to the center, where students in the Transportation Systems program provide services funded by Dublin Bridges. The Dublin Irish Festival also offers free admission to guests who bring a donation for the pantry to the festival on Sunday, Aug. 7 before 11 a.m.
Collaborations such as these have helped expand the pantry’s reach and allowed it to thrive. Even through the early uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pantry never closed its doors. Though food choice was limited, the pantry still offered some opportunities to select specific items in addition to a basic package.
In 2021, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce recognized Youngsteadt-Parrish’s immense altruism by awarding her its esteemed President’s Award. Though grateful, she’s quick to note that she’s just one of many moving parts.
“It’s never just me,” she says. “You don’t do this stuff by yourself. ... All of these entities and people make what we do every day happen.”
The pantry’s director of operations, Jim Wilson, emphasizes that Youngsteadt-Parrish’s lifelong dedication is unique, though.
“She’s really had a life of service,” he says. “She has always gone where she thinks she can do good either for the community or folks in the community and she’s always put that as her top priority as opposed to just doing something that pays the bills.”
That commitment can be seen even beyond her career. One notable example is how she used her experience with martial arts to help others.
Youngsteadt-Parrish began practicing karate while working as a paralegal on domestic violence cases. Given the nature of the work, it seemed wise to learn some self-defense.
While watching a karate class, the instructor asked Youngsteadt-Parrish, “Do you want to flip this guy?” She remembers the man as a huge farm worker – but she flipped him without trouble and was immediately hooked.
She practiced karate for 30 years, and though she’s never had to physically defend herself, a well-trained scream has been used as a first line of defense.
Once she became comfortable with martial arts, she soon looked for ways to put the skill to better use.
“I knew that I wanted to do something with it,” she says. “It wasn’t just for me. That’s not how I operate.”
She received permission from her sensei to teach self-defense classes using some of her karate knowledge. Her classes are open to all, but geared toward the unique experiences of women and children. She’s taught at Good Bodies Fitness Center, central Ohio recreation centers and events at The Ohio State University. She even earned a volunteer of the year honor at Woodward Park Recreation Center.
Karate serves as more than just a means of self-defense, though. For Youngsteadt-Parrish, who encounters hardship on a daily basis as part of her job, it’s helped provide an internal strength to confront the things she can’t control.
“I’m totally an emotional person,” she says. “If I keep it bottled in, I’m in trouble. Martial arts gave me the opportunity to not be so afraid.”
While hunger may be one of those things that’s difficult to control, that doesn’t mean Youngsteadt-Parrish intends to put up any less of a fight. And in Dublin, she’s found a solid ally to take on hunger.
“I really believe in my heart that the Dublin community will not allow this pantry to fail,” she says. “That if we put out the call tomorrow that we were out of food, that by the end of the day we would have food.”
A Bigger Pantry
The Dublin Food Pantry has long called Dublin Community Church home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the church allowed the pantry to expand into an additional room unused at the time.
As the pandemic has waned, however, the pantry’s demand has continued to grow, in part due to benefit programs not keeping pace with inflation and, specifically, the increased cost of food. Youngsteadt-Parrish says the pantry is serving roughly triple the clients it did in 2019.
To accommodate for that increased demand, and to move its expanded supplies out of the church, the pantry has announced a move to a new location at 6608 Dublin Center Dr. The standalone space will expand the pantry’s physical footprint to 7,700 square feet, allow more hours open to the public and even include a playground adjacent to the building.
Cameron Carr is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at ccarr@cityscenemediagroup.com.
