$95,000 Kaiser Permanente grant aids Second Harvest SC County

Kaiser Permanente Santa Cruz County is awarding a $95,000 grant to Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville to help serve the growing number of people in the community who need food assistance, many of whom have lost their jobs because of COVID-19.

Kaiser Permanente is supporting local nonprofits as they seek innovative
ways to enroll eligible households in CalFresh, California’s
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program has seen a
surge in applications during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is to
ensure people have access to and can afford nutritious food, to help
keep them healthy.

“CalFresh is Santa Cruz County’s first line of defense against hunger,” said Suzanne Willis, chief development officer of Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County. “Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen an unprecedented need: twice the number of requests for food from twice the number of residents.”

With the grant, Second Harvest will offer application and enrollment assistance to 1,000 former CalFresh clients who are no longer enrolled in the program. Second Harvest also will work with others in the community who may need access to the program.

In addition, the Kaiser Permanente grant will support outreach and enrollment staff at the food bank’s Watsonville offices, enable the staff to hold a forum with other partnering agencies and use cell phone technology and texting to encourage new and existing CalFresh clients to reapply for the program.

“Kaiser Permanente’s grant is making a difference in this community that is experiencing high rates of poverty and food insecurity,” Willis said.

The Santa Cruz County grant is among 18 Kaiser Permanente is awarding to food banks, community clinics, and family resource centers in Northern California to increase enrollment in CalFresh, with an emphasis on outreach to underserved communities. CalFresh helps low income individuals, families, and households to purchase nutritious food, providing up to $204 a month per household member in food benefits.

“The economic downturn caused by COVID-19 has left an estimated 1 in 6 U.S. households at risk of going hungry,” said William MacLean, MD, Physician-in-Charge of the Kaiser Permanente Santa Cruz County Area. “We are proud to support our community partners in enrolling eligible households in CalFresh. We know that the ability to access and afford nutritious food is critical to maintaining good health.”

This fall, Kaiser Permanente also awarded additional grants to support access to healthy food, including:

• $200,000 to the California Association of Food Banks to secure state funding for emergency food disaster assistance, distribute 175 million pounds of fresh produce and proteins through the Farm to Family program and increase the CalFresh enrollment rate statewide from 72% to 75% by the end of 2021.
• $100,000 to California WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Association to share and support the adoption of innovative practices to ensure WIC benefits are provided to eligible families throughout California.