Building Hunger-Free Communities Through Partnerships

Hunger-Free Lancaster CountyMichael McKenna, MS

Beth K. Schwartz, MSN RNPastor Matthew Lenahan

April 26, 2015

Need

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Lancaster County Food Insecurity Rate: 11%

Childhood Insecurity Rate: 18%

More than 59,000 people in our community

A meal gap of 7.2 Million meals per year

What does this look like in your agencies?

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Lack of access to enough food for an active healthy lifestyle

Need (continued…)

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SNAP Participants (Lancaster County) 56,284

1 out of 9 individuals receive SNAP benefits

Lancaster County ranked 10th in state for growth in SNAP (State of Hunger Report 2013)

Free and Reduced Lunch Program (Lancaster County) 20,238

WIC participants (Lancaster County July 2014) 9,600

Families living below poverty level ($23,000 for family of 4) 10.1%

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Hunger in America Report: TradeoffsChoose between paying for food and paying for other

expenses (ever in the past 12 months)

MedicalCare

62.2%Utilities48.6%

Housing45.1%

TRANSPORTATION41.3%

Education37.0%

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Hunger in America Report: Top Products Desired, by Clients, but not Receiving at Program

Fresh fruits and vegetables61.7%

Dairy Products (i.e. cheese, milk, yogurt)

49.8%Grains such as

bread and pasta

20.0%

Other Food Items

8.2% Items such as

diapers or shampoo7.7%

Protein items such as meat

30.9%

Beverages such as water or juice

25.0%

WHY COLLABORATION?

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Who are you collaborating with?

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COLLABORATION

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Who are you collaborating with?

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Building hunger free

communities

Capacity Building

Activities

Partnership Investment

Shared Mission and

Vision

EVALUATION

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Resources

Funding

Collect Data

Our Mission

•Building a food secure Lancaster County with a nutritious, accessible and sustainable food system.

Our Goal

• Ensure access to three healthy meals a day for every Lancastrian by March 2018 and the development of an ongoing plan to address hunger in the county.

How to close the meal gap?

SERVICE

Baseline Data 1-Year Objective 2-Year Objective 3-Year Objective Strategy Indicator Meal Gap Contribution

In FFY14, Central PA Food Bank, CAP, and partners distributed 4,218,608 lbs of food, the equivalent of 3,551,506 meals(Data needed: community meal share not covered by CPFB/CAP)

400,000 additional meals

760,000 additional meals

1,000,000 additional meals

Identify specific quantity of meals required from various players supplemental food community; Increase hours at select sites; Further align intake and data collection procedures; Expand sourcing network (e.g. gleaning); Improve variety of healthy foods served

Approximately 4.55 million meals distributed per year (equivalent to 5.46 million pounds)

1,000,000 meals

Approximately 11,200 individuals/contacts across TRACKS, EFNEP, WIC, CAP/NEP, Power Packs & HBP; 35 school gardens

Increase in contacts by 10%; Increase in school and community gardens by 10%

Increase in contacts by 20%; Increase in school and community gardens by 25%

Increase in contacts by 30%; Increase in school and community gardens by 50%

1. Track NE activities on a quarterly basis

2. Greater partnership across programs

3. Invest in research to assess impact of different tactics

Every district has at least one building with school garden; Nutrition Ed contacts increased by 30%

Indirect contribution via better use of food dollars and pounds of food from gardens

SCHOOL

Lever Baseline Data 1-Year Objective 2-Year Objective 3-Year Objective Strategy 3-Year Indicator 3-Year Meal Gap Contribution

School Breakfast

According to Hunger Action Center, during the 2011-2012 school year, only 42.5 Lancaster School District children received a free or reduced-price breakfast for every 100 who received a free or reduced-price lunch. In Columbia Borough, only 33.73 received a free or reduced-price breakfast for every 100 F/R NSLP participant.

50 students will eat breakfast out of every 100 students who eat free or reduced-price school lunch

60 students will eat breakfast out of every 100 students who eat free or reduced-price school lunch

70 students will eat breakfast out of every 100 students who eat free or reduced-price school lunch

1. Work with school leaders to ID high need, low participation schools.

2. Support alternative delivery models, i.e. breakfast as part of the school day

3. Implement county-wide or promote statewide School Breakfast Challenge

4. Farm to School initiatives

70 students will eat breakfast out of every 100 students who eat free or reduced-price school breakfast

Approximately 500,000 across the county. LSD - Based on average daily participation (ADP) of 1,839 addtl and 180 school days = 331,020 mealsCBSD – Based on ADP of 278 * 180 school days = 50,040. County wide from challenge = 118,940

After-school and outside school snacks and meals

In 2014, 4,275 meals and 25,759 snacks were served. Averaged daily participation was 140 kids for supper; 3,196 for snacks. There were 7 sites (Source: PDE)

7,125 meals and 34,345 snacks served. ADP of 200 for supper.

9,975 meals and 42,931 snacks served. ADP of 300 for supper.

12,825 meals and 51,518 snacks served ADP of 420 for supper.

1. Increase the number of sponsors and sites.

2. Boost sites’ days of service and marketing capacity.

3. Support sites in conversion from snack to full meal.

4. Explore creative sourcing options.

420 children eat an after-school meal on any given day (ADP) across 14 sites.

8,550 additional meals and 25,759 additional snacks per year

Summer Meals According to FRAC's statewide data, during July 2013, 18.7 students participated in the summer meals program for every 100 who received a free or reduced-price school lunch. In FFY14, 48 sites served approximately 90,000 meals and snacks.

Approximately 110,000 meals and snacks served

Approximately 130,000 meals and snacks served

150,000 meals and snacks served. In July of 2017, 25 children in Lancaster County will participate in the summer meals program for every 100 who receive a free or reduced-price lunch.

1. Recruit and support new sites and sponsors.

2. Outreach to families with children (e.g. post card home at end of school year)

3. Ensure high quality of meals and programming at sites

4. Deploy texting service and mapping features

150,000 meals and snacks served each summer; double the number of sites and/or increased capacity of sites

60,000 additional meals and snacks per summer

SNAP

Lever Baseline Data 1-Year Objective 2-Year Objective 3-Year Objective

Strategy Indicator Meal Gap Contribution

SNAP As of Sept 2014, only 51.9% of low-income people in SNAP. There were over 50,739 eligible individuals who were not enrolled.

55.23% of eligible low-income individuals will participate in SNAP

58.56% of eligible low-income individuals will participate in SNAP

61.9% of eligible low-income individuals will participate in SNAP (still below state average of 66.1%)

1. Identify best practices of higher-performing counties (Dauphin, York) 2. Direct outreach to community members at pantries and community agencies, including training a volunteer corps to expand reach 3. Identify underserved groups (Seniors, AmCit children, etc.) 4. Support governor-elect's proposal to eliminate the asset test; 5. Develop a matching fund to grow purchasing power of SNAP benefits at Farmers Markets 6. Explore ability to cross-match participants across WIC, school meals, MA, etc.7. Increase # of retailers for EBT

61.9% of eligible low-income individuals receive SNAP benefits

Based on ACS 2012 figures, 10,560 additional people over 9/14. Assuming average benefit of $119.41 per person; certification period of 1 year; and retail meal cost of $2.66, that’s 5,668,585 meals.

WIC In FFY14, Lancaster WIC served approximately 91.4% of assigned participation target

Lancaster WIC serves 93% of assigned participation target

Lancaster WIC serves 96% of assigned participation target

Lancaster WIC serves 98% of assigned participation target

1. Ongoing outreach 2. Campaign for retention to

age 5 3. Reduction in no show

rate. 4. Expanded footprint via

Mobile Clinic

98% of assigned caseload, equivalent to 9444, approximately 578 additional participants

164,247 meals (using SNAP calculator retail cost figure & $62.99 average monthly benefit)

Total Meals Contributed 7,237,135

Core Activities across priority levers- Cross-matching and cross-promotion across services and programs- Advocacy

o Priority areas could include Education to relevant stakeholders about school breakfast delivery

models Supporting changes to SNAP access (e.g. elimination of the asset test

recently announced under new Governor) Supporting changes in CNR authorization bill that expand access to

school meals and WIC- Expansion of coalition

o HFLC Board members work to secure the support of the Chamber, select elected officials, CAO, Lancaster County Universities, congregations and additional organizations from beyond Lancaster City and Columbia Borough.

o HFLC Board expects minimum standards of engagement

SWOT AnalysisSTRENGTHS- Deeply committed partners- Meaningful progress to date- Diversified strategy based on proven campaigns

elsewhere- Strong local economy with top performing ag

sector- Issue resonates with public and potential funders- Sizeable faith community- Leverages federal dollars for significant

efficiencies

WEAKNESSES- Key players not yet at the table- Investment of time, resources, etc. must be

maintained over long haul- No current funding- Data can be hard to access

OPPORTUNITIES- Systems level change via policy and processes- Positive feedback loop between results and

investment- Community-wide buy in- Creative approaches (farm to school, food waste

reductions)- Local sourcing system

THREATS- Macroeconomic changes (e.g. recession

nationally or loss of major employer locally) impacting financial stability

- Block grant of the SNAP program or reduction in funding for nutrition programs

- High cost and low availability of housing stock

Success Stories: Organizational

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• Organized membership and structure

• Defined mission and goals

• Created logic model and first year deliverables

• Garnered significant media coverage on official launch event

• Completed focus groups with local providers and users

• Developed a map of where all Food Pantry providers are located

• Cross promotion of other member agency organizations and goals

• Recruited new members that boost our collective capacity

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Success Stories: Programmatic

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• Lancaster County Council of Churches Food Hub• Central Market creation of bilingual materials, identified stands to obtain stand

holders that accepted EBT• Nutrition training of supplemental food providers• On-site Farmer’s Market at largest WIC clinic• Significant growth in produce distribution• Food Assessment with The Food Trust• Media coverage of WIC 40th anniversary• Acquisition of a mobile clinic to expand WIC services• Transition of SNAP hotline to Central PA Food Bank• Developed a resource for all Nutrition Education taking place in the County• Coordinated activities around the county for Food Day• Offered training on Summer Food Service ProgramWhat are your success stories?

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FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 20140

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

Central Pennsylvania Food BankDistribution of Highest Nutrition Products (in pounds)

Produce

Meats/Fish/Poultry

Mixed Dry - SFPP Grant Eligible

CSFP + ElderShare

Vegetables

Dairy

Juices

Fruits

Cereal

Completed Meals / Entrees

Soups

Grains & Rice

USDA - Regular

Protein Non-meat

All Other Product

Resources

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Hunger Free Lancaster County

Community Action Program for Lancaster County

FRAC

Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Feeding America

No Kid Hungry

USDA

Lighten Up Lancaster

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QUESTIONS??

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Michael McKennaCOO, Community ActionProgram of Lancaster County717-299-7388 ext. 3031mmckenna@caplanc.org

Rev. Matt LenahanPastor, Zion Lutheran Church(717)859-2100pastormatt@dejazzd.com

Beth Koser Schwartz, MSN RNFacilitator, Lighten Up LancasterLancaster General Health717-544-3865bakoser@lghealth.org