Foodshare

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

More on More than Food...

I had a great conversation today with the folks from the Hockanum Valley Community Council in Vernon.  HVCC operates, among other programs, the Tri-Town Pantry, which serves residents of Vernon, Ellington, and Tolland.

They told me about their increasing numbers of food pantry clients, about seeing people who used to donate to the pantry now coming in for help, and how the newly unemployed or under-employed don't know that their families are eligible for programs like free school lunches or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

As a result, they have started a case management model for their pantry clients.  Each client meets with a case manager who uses the 211 Navigator to explore what services might be available to their household.  Using these tools, they hope to get families back on their feet and no longer in need of the food pantry!

1 comment:

  1. Foodshare will also be training the Hockanum Valley case managers in SNAP outreach, to help them learn how to determine clients eligible for the program and assist in the application process. We will also be sharing our SNAP excel prescreener to help make the process even easier!

    We are really looking forward to working with their case managers, and helping clients of the pantry access SNAP.

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