Fueling Communities: CCNP Addressing Food Insecurity

Food insecurity and access to basic needs

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

CCNP is seeking to address the exponential increase in the number of households accessing food and resources through the CCNP Food Security Program, and ensuring that the organization has the resources to continue serving 1,500 + families per month in a dignified, and culturally appropriate manner. For the community served by CCNP, many of whom pay 90+% of their income to rent and basic needs, access to food is often uncertain. Parents with children have shared that they often abstain from eating to ensure their children have enough food. Weekly, individuals wait in line to receive what families refer to as “luxury” items, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Seniors make the “commute” to CCNP by pushing their carts and accessing public transportation to get to CCNP because they have no other food resources closer to them. For CCNP, we seek to serve each person in a dignified manner, acknowledging the efforts that they made to put food on their table, and offering quality food.

CCNP serves under-resourced individuals and families throughout Los Angeles, many earning $17,000 a year for a family of four barely making ends meet. CCNP began responding to food insecurity that was evident in this community in 2016, distributing food to a limited number of families weekly. After identifying the need for more wraparound services, CCNP implemented “Thursdays at CCNP” a dynamic weekly event that integrates healthy food distribution with nutrition classes, and direct resource linkage to public benefit applications and health resources. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, CCNP experienced a surge of families expanding to host two additional food pop-ups weekly around the City of Los Angeles. Through this approach, CCNP collectively feeds over 4,000 families every month. What sets CCNP apart from other food distribution programs is that the CCNP Food Security Program provides consistent access to healthy foods and integrates direct resource linkages with navigation services. Food-insecure households, regardless of age, can depend on CCNP to have fresh fruits and vegetables and culturally important food items. CCNP will utilize the funding to directly support CCNP’s Food Security Program, hosting 50 “Thursdays at CCNP'' with a minimum of five partners/services present and hosting 12 food pop ups across the City of Los Angeles. Each event serves as a unique opportunity to engage new community members and create community connections and relationships.

CCNP is aware that food distribution alone is not a long-term solution to food insecurity, however, building a social network and providing access to resources to assist individuals toward stability can and is the goal of this program. CCNP’s two short-term goals 1. Ensure care for the community through 50 “Thursdays at CCNP” events that provide a minimum of 5 unique services 2. Host 12 food pop-ups throughout the City of Los Angeles. Each of these events serves as an opportunity for navigation support to CalFresh and other public benefits. To achieve these goals, CCNP will continue to partner with the LA Regional Food Bank and Sam Simon Feeding Families Foundation to receive grocery items and will enhance the bags by purchasing food items that are culturally appropriate to the community served. CCNP’s long-term goal is that the racial wealth gap will be reduced as households have increased access to resources and opportunities that positively impact stability and overall well-being.

For every distribution, CCNP documents the name, date of birth, phone number, and household size. CCNP also documents, the pounds of food and the locations to understand its reach. CCNP measures its success by the number of people served, and its ability to engage the community and incorporate community feedback to improve its programming. In 2022, CCNP initiated a Food Security Program survey to receive more formal community feedback regarding their experience and their food preferences, learning that the community wanted more education on the food received. With this feedback, CCNP implemented free nutrition courses. In February 2024, CCNP issued its Customer Satisfaction Survey, which showed that of those who responded, 68% regularly attended CCNP’s Food Security Program with one community member sharing that Thursdays at CCNP has allowed them to be more connected with their community and grateful for the connections. CCNP intends to issue the survey twice a year.