In 2021, the Houston Food Bank (HFB) received funding from Harris County to support an exciting project. The Expanding Capacity, Operations, and Partnerships (ECOP) Project, which ensured that neighbors had greater access to healthy food and resources after the COVID-19 pandemic. With the end of the grant, HFB and community members gathered last week to go over what was achieved.
HFB connected neighbors to food programs and worked to grow the local food supply in Harris County. To accomplish this, we teamed up with great partners like Target Hunger, Plant it Forward, and Brighter Bites. Grant funds were divided into three strategies:
Strategy 1: Expanding Capacity
HFB secured relationships with socially disadvantaged and/or minority owned food producers to purchase and distribute local and culturally relevant food. This effort will total up to $500,000 and has resulted in over 320,000 addition meals so far.
Strategy 2: Expanding Operations
HFB convened with 166 neighbors across 11 zip codes to inform program expansion and implementation. HFB increased the number of neighbors eligible to access state benefits, expanded the utilization of Food Rx and Food Scholarship programs and provided greater access to nutritious food as well as nutrition education.
Strategy 3: Expanding Partnerships
HFB provided equipment, resources, and guidance to increase the efficiency and capacity of the partner network to distribute more nutritious and culturally appropriate foods. These efforts will result in an estimated 3,860,000 additional nutritious meals.
