Hunger Initiative: South Outreach & SNAP

Hunger-Free Pierce County Collaborative initiative: investing in South Outreach and their ability to connect our neighbors in need with their Basic Food program and SNAP assistance . 


For the 200,000 residents in Pierce County who are eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) but have not yet enrolled in the program, signing up could be the difference between putting a healthy meal on the table or going hungry. SNAP offers nutrition assistance to eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. 

SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net, providing an electronic benefits card (EBT) to purchase groceries at stores and fresh produce at farmers markets. 
Basic Food is one of the only areas of work at Sound Outreach where there is not a staff member dedicated specifically to helping sign people up. Understaffed, they are only able to process 5 SNAP applications each week. This means that out of the 200,000 Pierce County residents who qualify, only 250 people can be reached each year.

Signing people up for SNAP has more benefits than just helping a family put food on the table. The more Tacoma-Pierce County residents there are receiving SNAP benefits, the more funding from DSHS Sound Outreach receives, enabling them to expand their services.

When South Sound came requesting funding for the coordinator position, they made a clear statement regarding the impact this position would have...

"Our Basic Food Coordinator will increase the number of interns and volunteers to sign people up for SNAP and conduct outreach in the following areas throughout Pierce County:

Shelters

Food Banks

Community Centers

Health Fairs

Senior Centers

Other nonprofits working with low-income families (YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, Health Centers, etc)

Churches

Schools"

UWPC invested $15,000 to help Sound Outreach hire a full-time Basic Food Outreach Coordinator. While this will only cover the first few months of this position, the position eventually pays for itself as an increase in SNAP applications means an increase in funding from DSHS for Sound Outreach. 


UWPC’s $15,000 is not only helping to create a paying job for a Pierce County resident, but it is also going to be solely responsible for 336 of the SNAP applications and nearly $900,000 of the economic activity that will result from them. Since helping them hire a full-time Basic Food Outreach Coordinator, they are now able to process 20-30 applications each week which could generate up to $1.7 million in purchasing power for low-income Pierce County families in the first year alone

Click here for more information on applying for SNAP benefits through Sound Outreach