Hunger Free Colorado has witnessed a recent trend of Colorado immigrants avoiding involvement with government food assistance programs that help support health and well-being for families, children and communities, despite being eligible. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and Pandemic EBT (P-EBT), a new supplemental food benefit for school-aged children.
Hunger Free Colorado has learned, through our Food Resource Hotline and interactions with the community, that many families avoid using food assistance programs because they fear it will compromise their immigration status. Thus, many eligible Colorado households avoid applying for or enrolling in the benefit programs for which they are eligible.
Our Response
To better inform our response, we convened immigrant communities and leaders. We learned that immigrant community members trust the information about resources and programs when it comes directly from community leaders and trusted organizations. To implement a strategy consistent with these findings, Hunger Free Colorado is partnering with 17 community organizations, across the state, for targeted outreach campaigns. These campaigns have focused on Pandemic-EBT and Summer Food Service Program participation in addition to WIC and National School Lunch Program enrollment. Staff members (including promotoras and other trusted community leaders) from our partnering organizations lead these campaigns to reach immigrant families in their community.
Outcomes
During the summer months, promotoras and other community leaders helped 12,000 families connect with pandemic food resources. This project is part of an intensive effort to decrease hunger among immigrant families, especially among children, during these challenging times. According to community members, these programs are helping families pay rent, save money, buy healthier food options, and much more.
Our amazing partner organizations include:
- Adelante Jeffco
- Cultivando
- Growing Home (Comunidad Unidad Y Apoyo)
- CREA Results
- Amigos de México
- GrowHaus
- Re:Vision
- MIRA Bus
- Lamar Unidos
- Grupo MAYAS
- Grupo Esperanza de Colorado Springs
- Lift-Up
- Compañeros Immigrant Resource Center
- Rural Communities Resource Center
- One Morgan County
- Alianza NORCO
- Center for Health Progress
Looking for pandemic food resources? Visit CoFoodFinder.org (also available in Spanish)!