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End Hunger Connecticut! (EHC!) is excited to announce it was awarded a three-year “Policy and Advocacy Grant” in the amount of $130,000 from Tufts Health Plan Foundation to implement its proposed project, “Improving SNAP Experience for Older Adults to Increase Food Security.”
The award is one of 10 new community grants totaling $1.325 million to fund projects aligned with the Foundation’s commitment to advancing policies and practices that support healthy aging. The grants engage older people in systems-level change to remove barriers responsible for inequities in communities across the region. Tufts Health Plan Foundation is the only regional funder exclusively focused on healthy aging.
“Many older adults face economic uncertainty in normal times, and COVID-19 has exacerbated this situation,” said EHC! Executive Director Robin Lamott Sparks. “COVID has truly exposed the economic fragility of many of our families, friends and neighbors, and we are so grateful to the Foundation for supporting this project which will help us increase food security amongst older adults throughout the state.”
EHC! will use the grant funds over the three-year period to provide training in peer-to-peer outreach for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly named food stamps); leverage its existing bilingual (English & Spanish) SNAP Call Center to assist with the application/redetermination process; and identify issues for administrative advocacy to improve the SNAP application and redetermination experience for older Connecticut residents.
“We are seeing trends – notably food insecurity and the need to ensure our long-term services and supports system advances healthy aging,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president for corporate citizenship at Tufts Health Plan. “We’ve seen the consequences of generations of systemic racism; we hope these grants will create space to listen and hear older people as they promote policy solutions that make sense for all of us.”
EHC! is dedicated to eradicating hunger and promoting healthy nutrition through outreach, public education, and advocacy. EHC! enhances the visibility and coordination of food assistance programs crucial to any effort to improve food security by partnering with several state and local officials, schools, and community-based organizations. This project will engage multiple partners across Connecticut and leverage work already being done to ensure wellness and improve program accessibility for older adults in the state.
End Hunger Connecticut! (EHC!) is excited to announce it was awarded a three-year “Policy and Advocacy Grant” in the amount of $130,000 from Tufts Health Plan Foundation to implement its proposed project, “Improving SNAP Experience for Older Adults to Increase Food Security.”
The award is one of 10 new community grants totaling $1.325 million to fund projects aligned with the Foundation’s commitment to advancing policies and practices that support healthy aging. The grants engage older people in systems-level change to remove barriers responsible for inequities in communities across the region. Tufts Health Plan Foundation is the only regional funder exclusively focused on healthy aging.
“Many older adults face economic uncertainty in normal times, and COVID-19 has exacerbated this situation,” said EHC! Executive Director Robin Lamott Sparks. “COVID has truly exposed the economic fragility of many of our families, friends and neighbors, and we are so grateful to the Foundation for supporting this project which will help us increase food security amongst older adults throughout the state.”
EHC! will use the grant funds over the three-year period to provide training in peer-to-peer outreach for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly named food stamps); leverage its existing bilingual (English & Spanish) SNAP Call Center to assist with the application/redetermination process; and identify issues for administrative advocacy to improve the SNAP application and redetermination experience for older Connecticut residents.
“We are seeing trends – notably food insecurity and the need to ensure our long-term services and supports system advances healthy aging,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president for corporate citizenship at Tufts Health Plan. “We’ve seen the consequences of generations of systemic racism; we hope these grants will create space to listen and hear older people as they promote policy solutions that make sense for all of us.”
EHC! is dedicated to eradicating hunger and promoting healthy nutrition through outreach, public education, and advocacy. EHC! enhances the visibility and coordination of food assistance programs crucial to any effort to improve food security by partnering with several state and local officials, schools, and community-based organizations. This project will engage multiple partners across Connecticut and leverage work already being done to ensure wellness and improve program accessibility for older adults in the state.
About us: End Hunger CT! works statewide to eliminate hunger and promote healthy nutrition through outreach, public education, and advocacy. EHC! offers SNAP assistance, nutrition program promotion, doubles SNAP at farmers’ markets, and more to help CT residents in need. To learn more about our services, click here.
Have any questions? Contact our Communications Coordinator, Kimberly Nguyen, at knguyen@endhungerct.org.
