Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, Double Up Food Bucks Arizona (Double Up AZ) focused on centering and reachingSNAP-participating populations in the Phoenix Metro area of Arizona. Unique populations served by sustained services included Spanish-speaking immigrant populations from Central America, Swahili-speaking refugees from Central Africa, and Burmese, Hindi, and Nepali-speaking populations from South Asia. English and Spanish-speaking older adult populations and young families are being served in eastern Maricopa and Pinal counties. Changes/Problems:The team has been working to partner with firms in Graham and Greenlee counties.One firm has expressed interest in the Double Up AZ program, but it has been difficult to maintain momentum of conversation with the store owner. One firm has been non-responsive to inquiries. The third firm has had a strongly resistant response to learning about the program. Our team is recognizing the power of having direct warm referrals from customers, community workers, or other store owners to help build trust enough for store owners to be open to finding time in their busy schedules to learn about the program. We will continue to seek out possible community connections for this rural, high-priority area, although expansion in these counties is moving at a slower pace. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The team has been working with two (2) new firms in La Paz county, a priority area. These firms have not yet been fully onboarded due to POS programming delays. Progress is actively being made with the goal to finish onboarding these firms in fall of 2024. The team has been working to partner with firms in Graham and Greenlee counties. Contact has been made with three (3) firms through email, phone calls, welcome gift baskets, and in-person visits. One firm has expressed interest in the Double Up AZ program, but it has been difficult to maintain momentum of conversation with the store owner. One firm has been non-responsive to inquiries. The third firm has had a strongly resistant response to learning about the program. Our team is recognizing the power of having direct warm referrals from customers, community workers, or other store owners to help build trust enough for store owners to be open to finding time in their busy schedules to learn about the program. We will continue to seek out possible community connections for this rural, high-priority area. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Annual reports are shared and disseminated across the statewide Double Up Food Bucks Arizona network, at in-person parter meetings, and across the Arizona Food Systems Network stakeholder coalition network. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The next reporting period will focus on brick and mortar expansion in La Paz and Yuma counties- morerural, and underserved regions of the state where there are not any current Double Up Food Bucks Arizona locations.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period, a total of 55,451 incentive transactions were processed across five (5) firms, reflecting a 33% increase in brick-and-mortar activity compared to the prior reporting period. All five (5) firms were operational across the 12-month reporting period. The average incentive redemption transaction was $12.50, reflecting 4% growth up from $12.04 average in the previous reporting period. 80% of sites were in Maricopa County, and 20% of sites were located in Pinal County. The program maintained its reach to five (5) brick-and-mortar firms during this period, although a total of six (6) additional brick-and-mortar firms were engaged during this period. The team supported the five (5) existing firms in continued growth of the nutrition incentive program. One firm in central Phoenix saw monthly incentive redemption increase to an average of $27,000 from $18,000 in the previous reporting period. Two (2) firms in eastern Maricopa and northern Pinal counties have averaged 28% local produce sold, this growth up from an average of 7% in RP #1. The team has made preparations for the nutrition incentive program to expand in the next RP to La Paz county, a priority region for expansion. This progress is interconnected with development of a new POS mechanism for program operation that will support further expansion with other firms who use the same POS. Community engagement in Yuma County, a populous, high-need area where no firms are currently present, is underway with implementation of a Community Advisory Board (CAB). All CAB members receive a cash stipend for their contributions and time, and 100% of members are all either: current or past SNAP benefit recipients themselves, or work directly with SNAP recipients on a daily basis. The conversations are fully bilingual in English and Spanish, and the dialogue is designed to provide in-depth information about community needs in Yuma. The team is specifically seeking their feedback on firms for program expansion, as well as asking for feedback on program design and promotional material design. Additionally, the Double Up AZ program was able to provide infrastructure grants all five (5) brick-and-mortar firms to support new refrigeration cold storage, store signage, customer experience improvements (i.e. benches, carts), and an upgraded point of sale system.
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, Double Up Food Bucks Arizona (Double Up AZ) continued to reachSNAP-participating populations in the Phoenix Metro area of Arizona. Unique populations served by this expansion included Spanish-speaking immigrant populations from Central America, as well as sustained services for Swahili-speaking refugees from Central Africa, Burmese-speaking populations from Burma and India, and older adult populations and young families in eastern Maricopa and Pinal counties. Secondary target audience groups focused on corner store owners within the more rural Arizona counties including Yuma, Cochise, and La Paz county. Changes/Problems:The team established a partnership with a Promotora/Community Health Worker (CHW) organization that organizes community health workers across Maricopa County. This organization engaged with community members in South Phoenix through a store preference survey and did store owner engagement alongside our team to discern best fit for firm expansion. Five (5) firms were identified and engaged; however the project was ultimately not successful due to lack of store owner motivation and bandwidth amidst supply chain ripples and food system overwhelm during the COVID pandemic. We are hopeful that a refined community engagement model in the Yuma County area will provide opportunities for lessons learned that may also be applied in this community. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The team continually provides ongoing on-demand technical assistance to all sites on an as needed basis and through weekly check-ins. In addition, the Double Up AZ offered two statewide partner meetings that focus on training and professional development topics most relevant to the site staff. In addition to those regular and consistent ongoing trainings, during this reporting period the Double Up AZ team has provided training and professional development directly with the YUMA Heal Coalition and the Promotoras within the South Phoenix Community from the nonprofit partner, Unlimited Potential, to develop capacity to conduct community engagement related to Double Up AZ corner store expansion. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Monthly program participation data is shared with the Arizona Hunger Advisory Council (HAC) partners and annual data is shared at parnter meetings and with the Arizona Food Systems Network (AZFSN) stakeholders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period Double Up AZ will be focused on continuing expansion to relaunch a brick-and-mortar site in Yuma Arizona as well as in the very small rural communities within La Paz County.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period, a total of 41,669 incentive transactions were processed across five (5) firms, reflecting a 478% increase in brick-and-mortar activity compared to the prior reporting period. All five (5) firms were operational across the 12-month reporting period, and the average incentive redemption transaction was $12.04, up from $11.69 the prior reporting period. 80% of sites were in Maricopa County, and 20% of sites were located in Pinal County. The program expanded its reach from four (4) brick-and-mortar firms to five (5) brick-and-mortar firms during this period, although a total of seven (7) brick-and-mortar firms were engaged during this period. The team expanded the list of firms from four (4) to five (5) during this reporting period. Customers at the new firm are primarily Spanish-speaking and rely on this firm to provide culturally appropriate fruits and vegetables for their families in the Sunnyslope community of Phoenix. Utilizing the localized expertise of members of the Yuma HEAL Coalition and Yuma County Health Department, the team engaged in a brick-and-mortar store tour, engaging with five (5) brick-and-mortar firms in Yuma County, a priority region for expansion. Unfortunately, lack of store owner motivation and bandwidth has kept those firms from onboarding to the program; however, a deepened community engagement strategy will be shared during the next GusNIP reporting period.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, Double Up Food Bucks Arizona (Double Up AZ) reached SNAP-participating populations in the Phoenix Metro area of Arizona. Unique populations served by this expansion include: Swahili-speaking refugees from Central Africa, Burmese-speaking populations from Burma and India, and older adults and young families in eastern Maricopa and Pinal counties. Secondary audience groups included vendors and store owners representing single-site small corners, as well as local Arizona farmers with a capacity to support local produce purchasing within the Maricopa County region. Changes/Problems:The team piloted a modernized incentive mechanism at one (1) firm by installing a 3rd party software system that was intended to provide a register-generated coupon. Unfortunately, the new software did not allow the store's point of sale system to capture the data that they needed to ensure a smooth transition, so the software was uninstalled, and the store had to return to their previous manual paper tracking system. The Double Up AZ team is still searching for an integrated solution that will streamline incentive distribution and reporting. Another firm was interested in hosting the program, however their point-of-sale dealer could not offer a viable register integration system for the store to use; ability to program the incentive in grocery stores remains a barrier to firm participation. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The team continually provides ongoing on-demand technical assistance to all sites on an as needed basis and through weekly check-ins. In addition, the Double Up AZ offered two statewide partner meetings that focus on training and professional development topics most relevant to the site staff. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Monthly program participation data is shared with the Arizona Hunger Advisory Council (HAC) partners and annual data is shared at parnter meetings and with the Arizona Food Systems Network (AZFSN) stakeholders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, Double Up AZ will continue to focus on expansion of adding new Double Up brick-and-mortar sites in the Phoenix-metro area as well as identifying a pathway to relaunch a Double Up brick-and-mortar site in Yuma, Arizona.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this reporting period, 75% of sites were in Maricopa County, and 25% of sites were located in Pinal County. Twelve (12) brick-and-mortar firmswere engaged during this period, three (3) of which were able to be onboarded, increasing the program's reach from one (1) firm to four (4) firms. Nine (9) farm direct firms were also engaged. A total of 7,199 incentive transactions were processed across these four (4) firms, resulting in an 88% increase in brick-and-mortar activity compared to the initial project initiation period. Utilizing FINI Supplemental funding, the Double Up AZ team conducted seven (7) community focus group conversations with incentive participants and seventeen (17) farmer interviews. Farmers spoke about the positive impact of the Double Up AZ program on the diversity of their customer base. Focus group participants discussed the loss they felt when their monthly SNAP benefits were reduced in early 2022. The COVID-19 public health emergency declaration was lifted in Arizona on March 30, 2022, and with that came an end to the emergency supplementary benefits that SNAP households were receiving as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Nutrition Assistance Emergency Allotments were distributed to eligible Arizona households in addition to monthly SNAP benefits to help address food shortages and supply chain issues during the pandemic public health emergency. Nearly all seniors who participated in community conversations talked about the hardship they were experiencing because of the sudden decrease in monthly SNAP benefits. Focus group participants appreciated the program's ability to increase their access to high-quality, locally grown fruits and vegetables, and they shared interest in seeing the program expand to additional locations. The team expanded the list of firms from one (1) to four (4) during this reporting period. One (1) firm in central Phoenix previously offered a FINI nutrition incentive program, but due to limited budget could only administer the incentive for one (1) day per week. By onboarding to the Double Up AZ program, this firm was able to offer the incentive seven (7) days a week. Since then, the firm's average monthly incentive redemption has increased from $5,000 per month to $18,000 per month. Two (2) firms in eastern Maricopa and northern Pinal counties successfully implemented an automatically generated incentive voucher system. The voucher is distributed by cashiers after the point-of-sale system automatically detects an eligible EBT transaction. The voucher contains a barcode, which can be scanned for redemption up to thirty (30) days after issuance. Additionally, the Double Up AZ program leveraged state matching funds to provide dedicated infrastructure funding for firms. Brick-and-mortar firms utilized the funds to improve produce refrigeration systems, increasing their ability to provide a fresher product and higher quality shopping experience to their incentive customers.
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