San Diego Hunger Coalition

Calfresh: program focused efforts on expanding access to calfresh through two main objectives:1. Calfresh outreach (cfo) contract: supporting a robust network of community based calfresh application assistors. Calfresh program, helped an additional 5190 people receive and 5570 people keep calfresh benefits, providing an additional 5.2m meals per year while passing through $890,406.37 to local nonprofit organizations. Calfresh program trained 615 assisters through 14 trainings and with 40 unique organizations. Program also hosted 9 calfresh task force meetings from 20 unique organizations with an emphasis on priorities such as dispelling public charge misconceptions, language equity, failure to provide to reduce application denials, and worked cross programmatically with the Hunger free kids team for calfresh in schools campaign. Program also developed new speciality training focused on providing application assistance to special population of college students. Program supported expansion and streamlined eligibility for special populations by providing policy updates and programmatic supports for college students and immigrant and mixed-status households. Provided support and technical assistance with calfresh applications for cbo partners with 91 individual calfresh cases, with 52% of the cases comprising of special populations, including college students, individuals experiencing homelessness, immigrants and mixed status families, and older adults/individuals with disabilities.program also hosted two trainings for 470 hhsa calsaws cbo partners to support subcontractors and cbos with transition to new application platform benefitscal (from benefitscalwin); and worked with hhsa and calsaws to ensure smooth transition of cbo accounts to new platform. Program flagged and supported cbos with technical issues in new program.program also hosted a public charge & immigration webinar for 65 cbo partners with the San Diego regional office for uscis (united stated citizenship and immigration services) and legal aid society of San Diego. 2. Administrative advocacy: program worked on strengthening local implementation of the calfresh program with the county of San Diego hhsa. Through facilitated tables and administrative advocacy, we worked through the social services advisory board (ssab) to address key issues including recognition that failure to provide was a top reason for application denials. Calfresh task force meetings discussed ways to maximize calfresh benefits with the end of the maximum allotment covid 19 waiver for calfresh. Additionally, calfresh team developed maximizing benefits flyer to support communties as cbos adjust to end of waiver. Hhsa website also shared information for applicants on how to submit verification documents and issued an organizational reminder to accept sworn statements and verbal attestations. Ssab: the San Diego Hunger Coalition developed & implemented collaborative recommendations to improve access to calfresh through the social services advisory board. Recommendations outlined in our 2023 work, once fully implemented, are anticipated to impact all 350,000 San diegans currently receiving calfresh and make enrollment easier for the 200,000+ San diegans eligible but not yet enrolled. Organization also advocated for additional features to be enabled in new application platform benefitscal by San Diego county in order to support calfresh outreach and application assistance by cbos, working with organizations like California association of food banks.

Hunger free San Diego (hfsd): hfsd program accomplishments for 2023 included the following:hunger free navigator: program efforts yielded a significant impact in addressing nutrition insecurity in San Diego county in 2023. By integrating food assistance with the development and institutionalization of the Hunger free navigator (hfn) program, the team conducted 13 hfn trainings, resulting in an increase of over 250 navigators from 67 different organizations and 1025 residents throughout San Diego county.in 2023, the Hunger free navigator (hfn) program made a significant impact on addressing nutrition insecurity in San Diego county. By integrating food assistance efforts with the development and institutionalization of the hfn program, we conducted six trainings. This resulted in the addition of over 267 new navigators from 50 different organizations and 25 residents across the county, enhancing our collective capacity to connect communities with critical food resources.after 2022s launch of Hunger free communities in two regions initiated as a regional and tailored approach to building a network of nutrition security advocates. Sdhc hosted 4 separate trainings in mountain empire and escondido to raise awareness for available food assistance which resulted in over 50 new resident navigators to share resources within their communitiy. The hfn program maintained and updated multiple sources of food assistance resources and information, including bilingual resources webpages and hfsd food assistance resource flyers. Hfns 2023 efforts expanded accessibility by including a new language for these flyers that are easily accessible, shareable, and a trusted resource for a total of 13 different languages. In addition to monthly countywide navigator trainings, the hfn team showcased navigator work by networking with new partners and strengthening existing relationships. Sdhc used this opportunity to train local sectors including healthcare networks, law enforcement, agricultural groups, and community-based organizations. Sdhc identified the need for connecting with spanish-speaking communities, and thus launched navigator trainings in spanish, effectively expanding our audience to chw/promotores and spanish-speaking community leaders. Additionally, opportunities to monetize navigator trainings began with tailored presentation requests for groups like community health group and 2-1-1.sdhc piloted a community-centered approach to address the unique challenges and needs within our most rural communities in east county, San Diego. In 2023, sdhc supported the operation of nutrition security programs throughout the mountain empire region and collaborated on coordinated nutrition security efforts in the area.in 2023, the San Diego Hunger Coalition partnered with save the children and baylor university to further these efforts by piloting a program to train local residents in the mountain empire region. Sdhc delivered an in-person Hunger free navigator training at San ysidro health center in campo, ca, for 25 residents. These participants were recruited with the assistance of a nutrition security coordinator hired specifically for this project. The Coalition developed bilingual flyers and handbooks in english and spanish, and the presentations were conducted in both languages to ensure inclusivity. The materials covered essential information on food assistance resources such as calfresh, wic, school meals, meals for older adults, and local food distributions. Due to the lack of reliable internet access in the area, residents received hard copies tailored to their needs.in december 2023, these trained residents shared feedback about their experience and the challenges they encountered with baylor university researchers, who focus on rural community studies. As a token of appreciation, each participant received a $50 gift card for their contribution. Hfn supported strengthening food assistance referral pathways through group facilitation among service providers such as food bank partners, calfresh assisters, senior meal services, and local cbos to update service information. According to local partner input, unique tailoring includes significantly more food distribution information as they are particularly important in rural environments. Resources created and disseminated in 2023 showed an increase in participation, as reported by partners. Additionally, cross-programmatic efforts with hfk and cf teams in the calfresh in schools initiative in partnership with mountain empire union school district (meusd) to increase snap participation among eligible students and their families.hunger free San Diego advisory board & research: program continued to lead a multi-year, cross-sector initiative to end Hunger in San Diego county using a community-driven, data-informed, collaborative approach.guided by an advisory board of more than 30 leaders representing all aspects of Hunger relief in San Diego county, Hunger free San Diego is a cross-sector, collaborative initiative launched in 2016 to apply a data-informed and community-driven approach to ending Hunger in our region. Advisory board member organizations (and other Hunger relief partners) provide comprehensive data reports to the Hunger Coalition on the amount of food assistance they provide each month. The Hunger Coalition aggregates this data provides analysis and additional research on nutrition insecurity and produces maps and data tables with the following estimates down to zip code level each month: number of nutrition insecure individuals; percentage of the population of each zip code that is nutrition insecure; number of food assistance meals provided; the calfresh (snap) participation rate; the number of potential calfresh (snap) enrollees in each zip code; and the meal gap, which is the number of missing meals needed for all residents of San Diego county to have access to three healthy meals per day. In 2023, the advisory board met three times to: review its collective data, methodology, and reach; lead narrative change to solidy the sectors focus on equitable access to food assistance; develop data dashboards to summarize its monthly data products by electoral districts; contribute to the Hunger coalitions march 2023 issue brief on the state of nutrition insecurity in San Diego county; and to help plan the annual state of Hunger program which features a panel of hfsd advisory board members each year.the advisory board also contributed to the Hunger coalitions quarterly data releases in 2023 which analyzed and mapped nutrition insecurity, food assistance, and the meal gap in their respective months by zip code. Quarterly maps were posted on the Hunger Coalition websites research page along with the data releases. Data dashboards are posted on the Hunger coalitions website quarterly. The dashboards can be viewed by board of supervisor district, congressional district, state assembly district, San Diego city council district, and state senate district. Using this information, the Hunger Coalition presented the Hunger free San Diego methodology and program information at the annual anti-hunger policy conference hosted by frac in Washington dc, presenting to over 50 anti Hunger organizations. In addition to the data created for the entire Hunger relief sector, Hunger free San Diego also includes responding to data requests from community partners (i.e., ymca, San Diego county school districts, feeding San Diego, meals on wheels) in which the Hunger Coalition produces customized data tables or reports to fit the needs of the request. There is an ongoing quarterly data request in which the Hunger Coalition provides data and maps on nutrition insecurity, food assistance, and the meal gap for the county population that is 60+ for advisory board member meals on wheels such that they can analyze the conditions of the population that they serve specifically.

Hunger free kids (hfk): program secured $17,149,927 in summer ebt benefits statewide to California families through innovative initiatives, contract management, 1:1 case issues, program advocacy, and communications campaigns. Contract management and 1:1 case issues: hfk maintained participation in (pandemic ebt) p-ebt by building community based organizations capacity to help people connect to p-ebt benefits through funding and ta, creating promotional materials to build client awareness, supporting families who faced barriers to accessing p-ebt benefits, and leading overall advocacy on programmatic change. Program passed $146,572.12 to 8 community based organizations between jan-june 2023.program advocacy: hfk presented at 12 tables on p-ebt and/or calfresh in schools including local, statewide, and national audiences. The San Diego Hunger Coalition lead an advocacy campaign, in partnership with our state governing partners, assemblymember ward, alvarez, weber to pressure the united states department of agriculture to extend its deadline and make sure that children and families that were supposed to receive their p-ebt 2.0 benefits but never did had an opportunity to receive them. Because of our efforts we were able to bring in an additional 4.4 million dollar in benefits to San Diego, this accounted for 1.1 million meals provided, which breaks down to 314 meals per card. This saved a family an average of 15 trips to a food bank to get an equivalent amount of food. One oceanside family shared with us the following quote: thank you so much! ...when i got the p-ebt 2.0 card there was like a thousand and something dollars on there and i used it. Thank you again because that is huge, huge, huge, huge! Im now renting a room temporarily from an old friend of mine and i'm getting a job and on my feet in a home and all those things so it's all coming together rather quickly and things are starting to look up. Thank you so much for reaching out it feels really good to know that somebody was thinking about us and somebody cared i appreciate that.communications campaigns: the hfk task force remained a leader in bringing together school districts, state and county offices, and community-based organizations to learn and share best practices to combat Hunger in San Diego. The task force approached child Hunger with systems-level, sustainable solutions that produced consistent and tangible results. The goal of these convenings was to increase countywide participation in youth meal programs to ensure our regions historically under resourced children have year-round access to three meals a day.