Finding Simple Solutions

Reprinted from Traditions, Summer 2020
September 23, 2020

His determination to make a positive impact on the world has led Cameron Perra ’11 to travel extensively, but his most recent contribution came much closer to home.

He currently works as a Policy Analyst for Hunger Task Force, a food bank in Milwaukee. When the coronavirus hit, his job was to understand the new laws being passed, such as the CARES act, and translate it to get resources into people’s hands. Suddenly, thousands of people needed help, and they were not familiar with the systems that could help them.

“With all of the kids out of school, all of a sudden people who were already on the edge beforehand are now in much more severe situations,” Perra said. “So many people that have never thought about needing to go to a food pantry or wondered where they would get food for themselves or their families all of a sudden are pushed into that situation.”

Perra knew the resources were available to feed these families, he just had to figure out a way to get the information out there. He knew that the goal was speed and ease of use — it didn’t need to be anything fancy. It just needed to work. With free Google Maps technology, he quickly created a shareable, interactive map noting all of the food pickup sites in the city. It made it easy for people to see the options available in their neighborhood, and has so far been viewed over 123,000 times.

Perra, who majored in International Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and earned a Master’s in Development Practice from the Humphrey School of Public Policy at the University of Minnesota, has devoted his career to looking for the simplest and most effective answer to complex questions.

Hunger Task Force has developed stronger partnerships with organizations across the state of Wisconsin, and he’s had the chance to lead the charge on programs to collect much-needed resources. For example, he worked on a Dairy Recovery Program to purchase milk from farmers that otherwise would have been discarded, and get that milk to families.

“It’s a super strange disconnect. There are all these people struggling to get food on their tables and yet farmers who are not able to sell their stuff, end up dumping it,” Perra said.

“Knowing that, we’ve tried to fill the gap there and make some connections, which has been really successful but a lot of work.” Perra noted that this is a new challenge during the pandemic, requiring him to set aside some of the policy analysis and just make phone calls and to figure out solutions.

Impacting St. Paul

After seeing the need and the positive impact his work was having in Milwaukee, Perra started thinking about how he could make a difference for his hometown.

“While I was making the map for the Milwaukee area, I saw something on Twitter from St. Paul Public Schools about food dropoff locations, and that made me realize that this thing I was putting together would be useful in the Cities, too.” Perra explain. “I created it and sent it to St. Paul Public Schools, who put it on their website,” he said. “I’ve lived in Minnesota most of my life, so it was a natural extension to do this type of project for a place I have a personal connection to, my neighborhood where I grew up. If it helps a couple people in St. Paul find food for their kids, then that’s great.”

Perra hopes to continue working in policy, particularly informing the development of new policies. He knows from his work that everything is interrelated — housing, labor rights, health, the economy — and wants to be part of creating lasting solutions.

“The way our society is organized, the pandemic has been felt very differently by different members of society. I am hopeful that this really stark reality that reveals the difference between the haves and have-nots in the U.S. will have some lasting positive effects,” Perra said.

“At CDH, I learned how to be a leader and the importance of being part of the solution, so I’m always looking for ways to contribute and make a difference.”