Backed by the Illinois Coronavirus Fund, mRelief Enables Equitable Access to SNAP

Scaling our work as a member of the Chicago Recovery Taskforce (RTF) where we sat on the Policy and Economic Stimulus (PES) committee, mRelief has taken our COVID-19 recovery work statewide. The Illinois Coronavirus Fund (ICRF) was established in partnership with Governor Pritzker’s office and convened by the United Way of Illinois and the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations. The purpose of the final round of funding was to focus on Black and Latinx Communities with an emphasis on supporting their recovery.

Black people in America are 2.5 times more likely to be hungry than their white counterparts, with 20.8 percent of African Americans being in poverty in 2018. According to HUD, 30 percent of African Americans are in poverty in Illinois. In recognition of this, mRelief was selected along with 6 other nonprofits in this round to lead an initiative called Equitable Access to SNAP. The initiative is a comprehensive food security effort centering families who are eligible for but not receiving SNAP.

mRelief’s core constituents are families who primarily use a mobile phone to access the internet, families without internet access. Recent Analysis shows that in more than 500 of the state’s roughly 3,100 census tracts, there were fewer than 600 quality [internet] connections per 1,000 residents. With this lack of internet access, having a solution to enable clients to access SNAP through a text messaging platform is more important than ever.

While the grant will serve more than 100,000 families throughout the state of Illinois, there will be a special focus on the Peoria Area of Illinois. We are especially keen to focus on Peoria and surrounding counties because according to the 2019 Census, we know that 27 percent of Peoria County residents are African American and 16.6 percent of Peoria residents are in poverty. Peoria, once the epicenter of national marketing, has struggled to rebound since COVID-19. Our efforts in this renowned Illinois city is the boost to the economy that $19 million dollars in SNAP would bring, as every $1 spent on SNAP generates $1.79 in economic activity.

Through agency collaborations and consultation with 2000 families that mRelief has already served in the Peoria area, this project will unlock $52 million in SNAP for Illinois residents through 2021.