Connecting the food secure to nearby, ready-to-eat meals using SMS
Hunger: Not Impossible is an innovative platform connecting the food Insecure to ready-to-eat meals through SMS, leveraging tech already in the hands of millions in order to tackle this injustice.
Please describe the activation your organization seeks to launch.
NIF seeks to launch Hunger: Not Impossible, a SMS and also soon-to-be app-based platform that connects food secure individuals to hot, ready-to-eat meals. The geo-location pinpoints the most convenient partner restaurants then leads the individual through a series of SMS responses to place a food order. Ensuring dignity for all, the anonymous aspect of the program breaks down traditional stigmas around hunger, while disrupting the system of charitable food provision.
Which of the LIVE metrics will your activation impact?
Access to healthy food
Will your proposal impact any other LA2050 goal categories?
LA is the healthiest place to CONNECT
In what areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
Central LA
East LA
South LA
Westside
How will your activation mobilize Angelenos?
Digital organizing or activism
Influence individual behavior
Connect Angelenos with impactful volunteer opportunities
Describe in greater detail how your activation will make LA the best place to LIVE?
HNI activation includes:
Partnering with local organizations to pinpoint the individuals who can most benefit from the program.
Onboard participants into the program
Participants will text "hungry" whenever they would like to order a meal (the number of meals / days will depend on budget and scale)
Participants will be directed through a series of SMS prompts that will build a food order at a participating restaurant that is nearby (geo-location technology selects the nearest locations)
Participants will pick up their meal and eat!
The simple solution to providing ready-to-eat and healthy meals to those struggling with food insecurity proves that Angelenos are concerned about their local communities and strive to discover innovative solutions for them. This program is human-centered and intends to work with a breadth of local organizations in order to provide a comprehensive program of self-development. Rather than be a "hand out" initiative, it is a hand-up approach to creating self-sufficiency in each and every Angeleno.
LA is thus proving that it is a welcoming and solutions-driven community where each individual is valued and supported in his/her ambitions to lead a healthier, more fulfilling life that allows him/her to become a higher contributing member of the community.
How will your activation engage Angelenos to make LA the best place to LIVE
Los Angeles struggles with homelessness. Homelessness is compounded by the fact that millions of homeless individuals go hungry. But food insecurity can also have surprising faces: single, working mothers; veterans; students; seniors. HNI supports LA's efforts to eradicate food insecurity and its foundational causes.
Hunger: Not Impossible will feed millions of food insecure Americans by leveraging a ubiquitous technology and mode of communication — cell phones and texting.
With convenient and regular access to food, H:NI participants are able to reinvest their time into strengthening the foundation of their lives, which ultimately disrupts the perpetual cycle of hunger.
This initiative will work collaboratively with other LA-based organizations working to end poverty and hunger in LA. Together, they will improve LA's reputation as being the homeless capital of the United States. It will show that Angelenos care about their communities and are actively discovering and utilizing breakthrough approaches to improving everyone's situation.
Please explain how you will define and measure success for your activation.
Initially success is measured by individuals impacted. How many food insecure individuals register for the program and how often do they access meals via the platform? Partnering with local organizations provides additional resources for individuals who can also access skills development, education, life coaching, health services and other necessary forms of support in order to comprehensively improve each individual's situation now that regularly accessing food is no longer a concern and distraction.
In order to measure this success, it is a months-long process of data tracking--via the ordering platform--of individuals to understand increase in qualitative life components. Surveys provided to all participants at the beginning and end of the program will inform the success of the program.
Where do you hope this activation or your organization will be in five years?
HNI's longterm goals include becoming part of a comprehensive system that supports individuals in their journeys to improve their living situation. Without food, a person is incapable of achieving anything else as it becomes an obsessive thought: where will I find my next meal? HNI can take this distraction out of the equation by providing this basic need via accessible, healthy, ready-to-eat meals. This creates space in the individual's live to pursue other means of self-improvement including employment opportunities, skill development, education, health services, etc.
If HNI can partner with organizations around the country, it will revolutionize the ability of NGOs and their communities to dramatically escalate and accelerate the work of each organization.