“I have fought to overcome poverty from childhood. I completed two college degrees, traveled out of the country, and have helped others in desperate situations. And then, life happened… I was hit with challenges that I never anticipated. I realized that I could go hungry, but I would not let my kids go hungry. I swallowed my pride and applied for SNAP.”
-Andrea Fuller
SNAP Advocate and participant in Hunger Free Colorado’s Hunger Through My Lens project
We have made great strides towards our goal of providing access to food to all 171,000 of our Southern Colorado neighbors at risk of hunger. To accomplish this, we are building capacity both internally and externally through our partner agencies, implementing new food access points and programs, and acquiring more food and funds.
We are also focusing on ways to bolster access to food through programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly known as food stamps). We have a dedicated staff member and six volunteers, SNAP Ambassadors, who provide SNAP outreach and application assistance for those at risk of hunger. Because of our SNAP team’s hard work and dedication, we are reaching more people than we ever have during the entire five-year history our program! Since July 1, 2015, we submitted more than 600 applications on behalf of those in need of additional food resources.
In order to address the complex problem of hunger, we need to take multiple approaches. Food assistance, whether it’s through food pantries or SNAP benefits or a combination of both, help to ensure that the working poor, seniors, the homeless, and many other vulnerable members of our community have access to the food they need to thrive.
