Introducing our Community Resources Page
This month we announce a new offering for all our clients: mRelief Community Resources Page. This offering complements all of the hard work that took place last month after the change in the timeline for disbursement of benefits. As your team mobilized to issue February benefits early, and local food banks and organizations spread the word, mRelief assisted our government partners by using text messages to notify SNAP participants in Illinois and California about the change in schedule. Now we have launched the first version of our resources page to do even more.
We decided to launch resource pages in San Francisco and Chicago that would provide SNAP recipients with information about free and discounted services that are available to them by virtue of receiving SNAP, including matching funds at the farmers’ market and discounted utilities.
We have all heard about the economic multiplier effect of SNAP and the impact $1 of SNAP has across communities. But within a household, receiving SNAP unlocks a trove of resources that result in important cost savings. A CalFresh recipient has the potential to unlock $2240 in San Francisco by accessing a few additional resources:
General Resources
In addition to notifying users about SNAP-specific discounts, we also wanted to provide information about other resources that might be useful to people who are seeking help, including free meal sites and food pantries. Even if households are receiving SNAP, the benefits often do not cover all of their food budget and they may need additional food assistance. The University of Illinois and the Urban Institute report that in 99 percent of counties in the US, the SNAP-per-meal benefit does not cover the cost of a low-income meal. The cost of a meal is actually 27 percent higher than the benefit amount.
Therefore, our Community Resources Page also includes a food locator and information about mobile pantries, as well as resources for legal help and job counseling. Since work requirements are part of the SNAP program, some people who are receiving the benefit may need to find work within a few months of being approved in order to continue getting their benefits.
We also include these general resources for those who check their eligibility but may not be eligible for SNAP. It is likely that if someone checks to see if they qualify for food assistance, they probably need resources to make ends meet, even if they end up being over the income cutoff. At mRelief, our goal is to provide tangible resources to everyone who needs assistance, even if they don’t fall under the requirements for SNAP and we are excited to share resources to amplify the existing efforts across the safety net to help Americans meet their food needs with dignity.
