Progress 07/01/17 to 06/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The "Grown To Go" Community Mobile Market provides weekly pop-up farm stands in communities with limited access to fresh, local produce. Launched in 2016, the market visits 14-15 locations each week from June to November, including low-income senior housing communities, community health clinics, and RRHA communities. Below are the locations that participated in the weekly pop-up farm stands. The name of the location is accompanied with a brief description of the demographics of the majority population at each location. Highland Park Senior Apartments - low-income senior apartment residents; predominantly Black/African American population 4th Avenue Senior Apartments - low-income senior apartment residents; predominantly Black/African American population James River Villas - residents of apartment complex in low-income neighborhood; predominantly Latino/Hispanic population Fairfield Court Resource Center - public housing residents; predominantly Black/African American population Creighton Court Resource Center - public housing residents; predominantly Black/African American population Ramsey Memorial UMC Care-A-Van - patients at mobile clinic for uninsured adults and children; predominantly Latino/Hispanic population Stonewall Apartments - low-income senior apartment residents; predominantly Black/African American population Hillside Court Recreation Center - public housing residents; predominantly Black/African American population Winchester Greens - low-income mixed development residents; predominantly Black/African American seniors St. Luke's Apartments - residents of apartment complex in low-income neighborhood; predominantly Black/African American population Lincoln Mews Apartments - low-income apartment residents; predominantly Black/African American population Fulton Neighborhood Resource Center - community members in a low-income neighborhood; predominantly Black/African American population Broad Rock Elementary School and Community Center - school community members and neighborhood residents of a low-income neighborhood Southwood Apartments - low-income senior apartment residents; predominantly Latino/Hispanic population Changes/Problems:With only one truck and limited staff, the mobile market can only be in one location at a time. Therefore, only some locations can have markets during the most popular time slots (afternoon and evening). We recognize this challenge and that it limits the number of customers that the mobile market can reach. In response to these challenges, the mobile market pursued an alternate distribution method of a CSA drop off model (at two previous mobile market sites) in the 2019 market season, and implemented incentive programs to reach more SNAP participants and encourage their participation, including a SNAP "buyers club", loyalty cards, and SNAP match programs. The program marketing outreach efforts focused on these priority areas: Public housing communities - door-to-door community outreach with Community Health Worker to distribute flyers with coupon attached, in RRHA communities. Marketing materials that include photos/pictures of produce and explicit SNAP discount and prices posted on website, market brochure, and produce availability list/board at markets. Display promotional materials (recipe cards, flyers, incentive program info, etc) on an eye-level A-frame chalk/white board. The board has two functions: 1) ability to write on it to include messages about upcoming events, food of the month, etc., and 2) a plastic drop box attached to store recipes. Pre-season launch events - 1-2 weeks before markets begin, program staff visited each site at the market day and time for a "launch event" to spread the word about the upcoming markets. Activities included 1) signing up customers for the SNAP Loyalty program, 2) distributing coupons and marketing materials, and 3) food demos, kitchen skills, and/or sampling Text/voicemail reminders for each market on day-of, through Remind app. Sign-up information is given at each market. Social media - Scaled up social media marketing (Instagram, Facebook), with market updates to target customer audience. Direct incentives to SNAP participants included: $1/$1 SNAP match on all produce offered even if the customer does not have any SNAP benefits left for the month. To do this, staff verify that the customer is an eligible SNAP household by completing a balance check on their EBT card, the customer receives a 50% discount on items purchased and pays with their method of choice, and the program matches the remaining 50% using the budgeted SNAP match funds. SNAP Frequent Shopper Card - punch card. Every time SNAP participants shop with SNAP/EBT (no purchase limit), they receive a punch on the card. When the card is complete, the shopper is eligible for kitchen utensils and/or coupons. SNAP Bonus Bucks - designed to help regular SNAP customers at the end of the month when funding may be tight. Customers shop with their SNAP card during the first few weeks of the month at any market and receive a free $10 voucher (limit: one per SNAP user per month). On the last market day of the month, voucher can be exchanged for produce. Only redeemable on the last market day of the month. No additional purchase is necessary (adapted from the LEAP Bonus Bucks model) "No purchase required" models, including: Incorporate incentives into existing programsin target communities, for example - when a resident has an appointment with Resource Center Community Health Worker, they will receive a coupon as an incentive to attend the market. When a resident participates in a cooking demo/etc., then the resident receives a punch on a loyalty card or receives a coupon. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Shalom Farms summer and fall internships provided to both undergraduate and Masters level students provided opportunities to experience direct service work in the community. Student interns develop skills in cooking demonstrations, nutritional education, preventative health screenings, as well as first hand knowledge of the challenges communities living in food deserts face to access healthy, fresh and affordable food. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During the first three years of this project, the focus has been on communicating directly with the communities the market serves to increase the number of weekly and repeat customers, and therefore the impact of the program. Self-reported data shows us that increased physical access to and affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially when paired with cooking skills education and incentive programs, increases fruit and vegetable access. This correlation and other program outcomes are communicated regularly with donors, volunteers, community coalitions, and other stakeholder groups. A broader study of consumption and self-efficacy related to this particular project will be performed in Fall 2020 in partnership with the VCU School of Nursing, and we will work with our partners to effectively share these results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Richmond City Mobile Market achieved Objective 1 by operating 14 or more market sites annually, which all accepted and matched SNAP/EBT benefits. The Mobile Market chose strategic locations at community sites frequented by low-income consumers participating in SNAP, and incentivized produce purchases in efforts to increase overall purchase and consumption of fruits and vegetables and improve health among this target population. The Mobile Market is an authorized SNAP retailer and was able to conduct SNAP transactions via EBT at all vending locations, as well as match SNAP purchases. Objective 2 was met by testing various formats of community engagement, outreach, and marketing activities and continuing those found to be most successful, including pre-season launch events, text reminders, health screenings, and explicit information about the SNAP Match program. Activities that achieved Objective 3 continue to be utilized to incentivize SNAP customers and maintain relevance of the program.
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Progress 07/01/17 to 06/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Highland Park Senior Apartments - low-income senior apartment residents (predominantly Black/African American population) Jefferson Trace Apartments - residents of apartment complex in low-income neighborhood (predominantly Latino/Hispanic population) Fairfield Court Resource Center - public housing residents (predominantly Black/African American population) Bon Secours SGJ Center for Healthy Living -staff and visitors of community center in low-income neighborhood Creighton Court Resource Center - public housing residents (predominantly Black/African American population) Ramsey Memorial UMC Care-A-Van - patients at mobile clinic for uninsured adults and children (predominantly Latino/Hispanic population) Stonewall Apartments - low-income senior apartment residents (predominantly Black/African American population) Calvary United Methodist Church - community members in a low-income neighborhood (predominantly Black/African American population) Hillside Court Recreation Center - public housing residents (predominantly Black/African American population) Winchester Greens - low-income mixed development residents (predominantly Black/African American seniors) Changes/Problems:With only one truck and limited staff, the mobile market can only be in one location at a time. Therefore, only some locations can have markets during the most popular time slots (afternoon and evening). We recognize this challenge and that it will limit the amount of customers that the mobile market can reach. To proactively address the issue, the mobile market will pursue an alternate distribution method of a CSA drop off model (at two previous mobile market sites) for the nextmarket season. In addition, we will implement several methods to reach more SNAP participants and encourage their participation. The program marketing outreach efforts will focus on these priority areas: Public housing - door-to-door community outreach with Community Health Worker. Will distribute flyers or leave door hangers with a coupon attached. Marketing materials Marketing materials that include photos/pictures of produce and explicit SNAP discount and prices. "Everything 50 cents or less," or "4 tomatoes = 50 cents" Graphic designs with larger and more prominent 50% SNAP/EBT discount messaging Flyers with coupons attached at the bottom Display promotional materials (recipe cards, flyers, incentive program info, etc) on an eye-level A-frame chalk/white board. The board will have two functions 1) ability to write on it to include messages about upcoming events, food of the month, etc, 2) a plastic drop box attached to store recipes. Pre-season launch events - 1-2 weeks before markets begin, program staff will visit each site (as appropriate) at the market day and time for a "launch event" to spread the word about the upcoming markets. Activities may include 1) signing up customers for the SNAP Loyalty program, 2) distributing coupons and marketing materials, 3) food demos, kitchen skills, and/or sampling Text/voicemail reminders Social media - Scaled up social media marketing (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook). SNAP enrollment offices - Partner with SNAP enrollment offices to distribute marketing materials Direct incentives to SNAP participants may include: $1/$1 SNAP match on all produce. $1/$1 match will be offered even if the customer does not have any SNAP benefits left for the month. I.e. staff would verify that the customer is an eligible SNAP household by completing a balance check on their EBT card, the customer would receive a 50% discount on items purchased and pay with their method of choice, and the program would match the remaining 50% using the budgeted SNAP match funds. SNAP Frequent Shopper Card - punch card. Every time SNAP participants shop with SNAP/EBT (no purchase limit), they will receive a punch on the card. When the card is complete, the shopper will be eligible for kitchen utensils and/or coupons. SNAP Bonus Bucks - designed to help regular SNAP customers at the end of the month when funding may betight. Customers shop with their SNAP card during the first few weeks of the month at any market and receive a free $10 voucher (limit: one per SNAP userper month). On the last market day of the month, voucher can be exchanged for produce. Only redeemable on the last market day of the month. No additional purchase is necessary (adapted from the LEAP Bonus Bucks model) "No purchase required" models Trigger - appointment with Resource Center Community Health Worker. Incentive - coupon. Trigger - participation in cooking demo/etc. Incentive - receives a punch on loyalty card, or receives a coupon. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Shalom Farms summer and fall internships provided to both undergraduate and Masters of Social Work students provided opportunities to experience direct service work in the community. Student interns developed skills in cooking demonstrations, nutritional educations, preventative health screenings, as well as, first hand knowledge of the challenges communities living in food deserts face to access healthy, fresh and affordable food. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project is a FINI Pilot Project in the initial phases of implementation, and therefore has not formed conclusions or disseminated results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As a FINI Pilot Project in the initial phases of implementation and only one annual report required, the project will follow the work plan outlined in the application in order to achieve the goals.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Richmond City Mobile Market achieved Objective 1 by operating 11 market sites, which all accepted and matched SNAP/EBT benefits. The Mobile Market chose strategic locations at community sites frequented by low-income consumers participating in SNAP and incentivized produce purchases in efforts to increase overall purchase and consumption of fruits and vegetables and improve health among this target population. The Mobile Market is an authorized SNAP retailer and was able to conduct SNAP transactions via EBT at all vending locations. In 2017/18, the Mobile Market tested various formats of community engagement, outreach, and marketing activities including kitchen skills workshops, health screenings, and SNAP-ed opportunities to test popularity and interest. The most successful efforts will be utilized again in the 2019market season.
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