Black Women for Wellness and Golden State Opportunity’s Collaborative Pilot Project for CalFresh Education and Outreach

THE PARTNERSHIP

Black Women for Wellness(BWW) and Golden State Opportunity(GSO) launched a collaborative pilot project designed to increase access to healthy and nutritious food for at least 35,000 low-income Black women in Los Angeles County over the next three to five years. We will share information about the thousands of dollars available to eligible families through the CalFresh program, while increasing public awareness of this important resource. We will also help women enroll in CalFresh and claim the funds needed to access the food that is available for them and their children through the various county programs.

ADDRESSING FOOD INSECURITY

In the Spring of 2020, BWW launched a food distribution that has been the center of hope and community for residents in South Los Angeles every since.  We saw the need to not only address food insecurity, but also create a welcoming and safe space for our community members to gather to receive produce, recipe cards, and resources while being seen and heard. This met our goal of actualizing food equity in our community. We know one's health has a direct correlation with the foods they consume, or don’t consume, due to a lack of access and equity in food systems. Our partnership with GSO allows us to move one step closer to meeting our goal ensuring that our community is knowledgeable and aware of all the resources and can access these resources through all of our collective efforts.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Since the start of the project, BWW and GSO have worked to utilize multiple strategies to inform residents in Los Angeles about the CalFresh Benefits Programs. The BWW, VREAM(Voting Rules Everything Around Me) civic engagement team and the GSO communications team have and will be engaging in door-to-door canvassing, phone bank follow-ups, community tabling events, text banking, email blasts, social media, and providing continued access to an active website. Over the course of the project, we have been able to knock on more than 3,330 doors. Of those contacted, 214 residents had previously registered for CalFresh Benefits and 156 began the registration process. Upon follow-up via phone bank, 32 residents confirmed that they were able to complete their benefits registration. We have also distributed flyers at more than 15 community tabling events including several Black History Month events in February. In total, we reached 2,000-2,500 people at these various events.

Further, through this partnership, GSO was successful at establishing a website (GetCalFresh.org/gso) that is tracking unique QR code scans as individuals are signing up for CalFresh. Since October 2022, there have been a total 85 English scans and 37 Spanish scans. Additionally, GSO ran a Print Campaign for La Opinion in October that resulted in 400,000 weekly readers. There was an additional advertisement in the LA Sentinel in October that resulted in 125,000 weekly readers as well. GSO also provided a social media toolkit with information regarding CalFresh applications and other benefit information.

Due to GSO’s current engagement in CalEITC Tax Preparation Outreach and Education for Foster Youth during tax time, GSO’s implement text banking about CalFresh resource beginning in late April (post tax time).  These continued outreach efforts will allow us reach all deliverables prior to October 2023.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

While many of our residents have been appreciative of the information provided, one of the most frequently asked questions has been related to the end of the COVID emergency allotment funds ending in February and how they will affect new and current CalFresh recipients. In those cases, we have encouraged individuals to contact a CalFresh representative for more information.  As a strategy for evaluation, we will continue to listen to and capture what community members are saying and we will track the ongoing engagements through our various outreach and engagement strategies.  In the coming months and through the end of this project, we plan to continue providing information on the CalFresh Benefits Program to our residents via the methods discussed. We will continue to explore ways of incorporating creative targeted strategies to reach populations we have not tapped into thus far. We trust that this partnership will make community members aware of the resources that are being offered to community members to move the needle on eliminating poverty, food insecurity and increasing access to public health and wellness resources.

VIDEO

Check out this video of the work that the BWW x GSO Collaboration has done to educate community members about Cal Fresh Resources in Los Angeles County.