What we've been up to (while we've been locked down)
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While COVID-19 pandemic has meant a reduction of services, hours, and staff for many private businesses and nonprofits throughout San Diego County, the San Diego Hunger Coalition has dialed up our work during this time as hunger relief has become more important than ever. Our small-but-mighty staff has been working long hours from the confines of their homes to make sure that, even in the face of a global pandemic, San Diego County’s hunger relief safety net remains strong, sound, and responsive right when it’s needed most.
Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been doing since March.
CalFresh (Also known as SNAP and Food Stamps)
Our strongest, most dignified, most reliable form of food assistance is undoubtedly the CalFresh/SNAP program. Thousands of San Diegans rely on CalFresh, which provides additional money each month for families to buy groceries.
Since COVID-19 shut down large portions of our economy, San Diego Hunger Coalition has been working diligently with state and local advocates to maintain access to CalFresh for families facing hunger for the first time at a time when services were severely restricted due to new health safety measures. We worked with legislators and partners to advocate that the USDA temporarily remove barriers to applications such as required interviews. We advocated for increased benefits for the duration of the public emergency. And we were successful. Since April, families have automatically received the maximum allowable benefits which has provided millions of additional dollars for groceries to San Diego residents.
The application process has been simplified and streamlined so that thousands of new applicants can navigate the CalFresh system with relative ease. The result has been thousands, if not millions, of additional meals provided through CalFresh to those experiencing COVID-related hardships.
The Hunger Coalition continues to work with many of our partners providing CalFresh application assistance to increase and support their capacity. We’ve helped organizations connect so that they may share employees instead of laying them off, streamline their operations, and seek out new funding to replace lost revenue streams.
School Meals and Child Nutrition
In a normal year, school meals and Child Nutrition account for 25% of all food assistance in San Diego County. When schools closed down in March, all of that food assistance disappeared, and families were hard-pressed to put enough food on the table. Fortunately, San Diego’s school districts and their incredible nutrition services teams move swiftly, nimbly, and with unwavering commitment to continue offering meals to their students even with schools closed due to the pandemic.
San Diego Hunger Coalition has provided emergency support and coordination for our school districts since March. We regularly convene nutrition service directors and school district staff so that they may share their needs, successes, and challenges. We’ve kept our finger on the pulse of child nutrition and, with funding provided by The San Diego Foundation, have granted out $300,000 in small grants to school districts so that they may purchase the supplies they need to keep our kids fed.
Students picking up lunch and breakfast from Poway Unified School District.
Advocating for Hunger Relief
San Diego Hunger Coalition also played no small part in advocacy during the pandemic. Our team is working closely with state and local partners to push the USDA to make sound policy decisions that will keep Americans properly fed. We’ve worked with the office of Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota to extend waivers that make it easier to feed kids and support and advance the Pandemic Child Hunger Prevention Act which would provide Universal Free Meals for kids for the duration of the public emergency. Our team successfully asked Representative Scott Peters to sign onto the Pandemic Child Hunger Prevention Act, as well.
SDHC signed on as one of 50 organizations supporting emergency food assistance to undocumented California residents during COVID-19. We have also submitted multiple letters of support and statements for pandemic-related hunger relief laws and policies such as:
A letter asking the USDA to reverse their decision to revoke crucial CalFresh waivers.
A data-backed statement on the senior meals programs that cut out our lowest-income seniors
An issue brief detailing why COVID-19 responses must include funding for school nutrition services.
This is all just a sampling of what the Hunger Coalition has been up to since the pandemic hit. Our team is working long hours to guide, support, and empower our hunger relief community whether it’s by awarding grants, providing technical support, or advocating for legislation and policies that make hunger relief easier.
The pandemic isn’t over, yet, and San Diego Hunger Coalition remains on the job, making sure that anyone who needs food assistance can get it.
Photo credit: Adi Goldstein
