Martha's Table

Martha's Table's health & wellness initiatives increase access to healthy food and support children and their families in making healthy choices. Through these initiatives, Martha's Table offers nutritious prepared meals and healthy groceries at no cost. Meals prepared onsite for its education programs meet or exceed government nutritional standards. Mckenna's wagon, Martha's Table's mobile food truck, serves warm meals seven days a week to individuals experiencing food and housing insecurity. In fiscal year 2022, Martha's Table engaged with the community to offer resources to address and reduce stigmas around mental health. Services include one-on-one, group sessions and larger events including healthy happy hours. Martha's Table also provides healthy groceries at no cost through regular (continued on sch o)markets at more than 50 sites in Washington, d.c., including elementary schools in wards 7 and 8, community centers, and at its own facilities.

Martha's Table's parent & family initiatives help ensure caregivers are deeply supported as they serve as their children's first and most important teachers. These initiatives support parents outside of the classroom through regular family visits throughout the first two years of their child's life. Martha's Table also offers a family resource center, parent cafes, and training programs that help parents achieve their personal goals. Other initiatives include the cash assistance programs in partnership with several organizations and the district of columbia government. A new initiative this year includes district dads that supports community fathers and father figures through parental support workshops. Additionally, Martha's outfitters, Martha's Table's no-cost community boutique, offers free access (continued on sch o)to baby items, including bottles and diapers, as well as children's and professional clothing for families.

Martha's Table's education initiatives support children and young adults with high-quality learning experiences that help them thrive from cradle to career. Martha's Table offers nationally accredited, comprehensive early childhood education programs for infants and toddlers ages six weeks to four years. Its curriculum promotes whole child development - focusing on physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development - to ensure children are on track and ready to learn in pre-kindergarten and beyond. To support older youth, Martha's Table partners with urban alliance on a workforce readiness training program for high school students. Students participate in weekly job training workshops starting their freshman year. By senior year, they are placed in nine-month, paid, (continued on sch o)professional internships. Martha's Table initiated the advancing early education collaborative to support community black and latina women in dc who seek to enter or advance in the early education field.

Neighborhood impact initatives: throughout all its work, Martha's Table is guided by its belief that neighborhood matters. Martha's Table has invested in a place-based strategy, which will direct resources to overcome complex and systemic social, physical, and economic factors that have historically limited its community's success. Neighborhoods influence access to resources that are critical for life success. With this belief, Martha's Table invests deeply in the neighborhoods surrounding its headquarters in southeast, dc, and its community development team works in partnership with local residents to identify and prioritize opportunities to increase access to essential resources in their community. Martha's Table initiated the community impact fund, a philanthropic initiative for grassroots organizations in ward 8.