Good morning.

For the record, my name is Aaron Murphy at large city counselor, and I am the chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Human Services.

Today is March 30th, 2026, and the exact time is 10.06 a.m.

This hearing is being recorded.

It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov backslash city dash council dash TV and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, FIOS Channel 964.

Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.hs at Boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors.

Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing.

Individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up, and we'll have two minutes to testify.

If you are here in the chamber and you want to testify, there is a sign-in sheet at the door.

You can add your name.

And if you want to testify virtually, you can email Central Staff Liaison Megan.

That is Megan M E A G A M dot C O R U, G E D O at Boston.gov for the link, and your name will be added to the list.

Today's hearing is on docket zero one seven nine in order for a hearing to discuss food insecurity and malnutrition in the city of Boston.

This matter was referred um with by the sponsors, myself and counselor Flynn, and was referred to the Human Services Committee back on January 28th, 2026.

So far today, I am joined by the lead sponsor, Counselor Flynn.

And at this time, um thank you, panel, for being here.

And Jennifer Hanlin Wigan, thank you for being here, Chief Executive Officer from the Women's Lunch Place.

Councillor Murphy for sharing this important hearing.

At the same time, it was found that one in five people in Boston experienced food insecurity compared to one in ten in Massachusetts.

It is critical that we discuss the state of malnutrition, especially for our seniors and working families to better inform policy relating to food access moving forward.

And Councilor Murphy mentioned the panel that are here.

Outstanding work that you've done.

And just on a side note, I just want to highlight the women's lunch place that is on Newbury Street near near Boylston Street at the Copley Copley Library area.

They do exceptional work there, and we're so proud to have them as neighbors.

But what I really respect and admire about this organization is how respectful they are to their guests, but also how they interact with immigrant neighbors, including the Chinese community where they have cultural sensitive food, and the way they communicate and interact with the residents is very professional and respectful.

So I do want to say thank you to Jennifer and the women's lunch place, and my wife and I enjoy visiting several times a year because it's such an outstanding organization.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

And thank you for grounding us in why this hearing order was filed, and proud to sign on with you back in January on this.

Do just want to touch on a few things before we turn it over to you.

You know, food is a human right, and we do see so many nonprofits, if it's churches, community centers, um, health centers.

I know the South Boston Health Center has been, you know, known just stepping up, right?

COVID rarely shown what all of you who have been doing this for so long and many people already knew was such a pandemic across the city.

But for me, which what has been eye-opening in the last few years is the you know population who's needing to go into you know the food pantry lines or needing help and support isn't what people all always think, right?

That the need is is grown, and what I notice when I visited women's lunch place, and when I'm at other places that are providing food, is you know, you're meeting people where they're at, they trust you because almost always, if they need a mail, they need more than just food, and you're providing them with a safe space for other supports that are just so necessary for them to live a full life.

And we talk, I know a lot here too, and one of the things is the chair of the age-strong commission.

Most of the grants that come through that committee are food security for our seniors.

So always just trying to push those through and hoping that the federal grants don't, you know, get cut in any way.

But how can we as a city make sure that we're supporting our food pantries, our lunch places like yours, and just making sure that the city departments, along with public health, and every I feel like every city department is touched on, I know schools see it, especially during break and summer vacations, like the need is there, and there's food, right?

And I hope we touch on that, like how are we making sure that we're getting it to the people who need it, and I'm almost positive you're also gonna talk about the need, and I saw this as a school teacher that it's not enough to just you know grab a snack that could be a sugar drink and a candy bar or a donut that we're providing people not just with culturally sensitive food but with healthy food that they need to grow their minds and their bodies.

So just looking forward to this conversation, and just know that we're a partner, and even though we do know we're going into at least for me, probably the most difficult budget cycle that I've had to sit on, my fifth one, that cuts won't be made when it comes to making sure our residents have the food they need to live.

You know, it's a basic need, so we have to make sure we continue to support you in any way.

So, that being said, um, I'll pass it over to you.

If you you can start wherever if you've already decided, but thank you.

Thank you so much.

Um good morning, Chair Murphy, good morning, Counselor Flynn.

Um, my name is Tabrini Dafonseca, and I'm here on behalf of the Boston Public Health Commission, where I serve as project director for the Boston Community Health Collaborative.

The Boston Community Health Collaborative is a cross-sector partnership co-led by Boston Public Health Commission of local health institutions, community organizations, public health, resident leaders working to support the health and well-being of Boston communities through aligning community health assessment and improvement planning efforts.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify about this important topic.

And great.

According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients, or impaired nutrient utilization.

The double burden of malnutrition consists of both undernutrition and overweight and obesity, as well as diet related non-communicable diseases.

Food insecurity is a household level social and economic condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food to live an active and healthy lifestyle.

Hunger is a possible outcome of food insecurity.

In Boston, like most cities in the U.S., malnutrition often shows up as obesity.

Obesity is a prevalent and costly chronic condition that can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and other chronic diseases.

In the 2025 Boston Community Health Needs Assessment Process led by the Boston Community Health Collaborative, focus group participants discussed obesity as a pressing physical health concern in their communities and in the context of limited access to healthy foods and insufficient opportunities to engage in physical activity.

We are seeing rising trends in food insecurity according to our Boston Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System or Breakfast Survey, with 22.7% of residents reporting that they bought food that didn't last and had no money to get more in 2023, and 14% of residents reporting that they were hungry but not eating enough because they couldn't afford enough food.

One of the primary tools that Boston residents are using to address food insecurity is a supplemental nutrition assistance program, or SNAP, which provides critical support to help households afford groceries and meet their basic needs.

And in our 2025 community health needs assessment process, focus group participants elevated rising food costs and reduced SNAP benefits as key barriers to accessing healthy and affordable foods.

Access to healthy and affordable foods was also identified in the Boston Community Health Collaborative's 2025 community survey of over 1800 residents as a top factor to improve quality of life and community health here in Boston.

Our recent data also shows higher rates of self-reported food insecurity in the neighborhoods of East Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Matapan.

When we look at our self-reported food insecurity data by population characteristics, we also see that residents living in Boston Housing Authority, renters receiving rental assistance, and unhoused residents also report much higher rates of food insecurity.

And we also see higher rates of food insecurity among Black and Latinx residents here in Boston.

Access to healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables, are critical to eating a healthy diet and preventing and managing chronic diseases.

A healthy diet is especially important for individuals living with chronic conditions like hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain cancers, in particular colorectal and breast cancer.

As a local health department, the Boston Public Health Commission works to provide actionable data to guide efforts to improve access to healthy foods and to support residents through nutrition education, assistance with navigating health coverage and benefits like SNAP and advancing programs and policies to make it easier for residents to eat healthy nutritious foods.

Just a few examples, the Boston Public Health Commission is supporting residents in completing SNAP applications through the Mayor's Health Line, a free service that connects residents to state state certified navigators and navigators for the mayor's health line can support residents with completing SNAP applications alongside health insurance applications.

The Mayor's Health Line also conducts outreach, is conducting outreach to increase awareness of critical benefits like health insurance and SNAP.

BPHC also provides three meals per day to 600 unsheltered men and women through our shelter programs.

And the Boston Public Health Commission also maintains Shirley's Pantry in Matapan, which serves over 5,700 families each year.

Our longest standing program, Healthy Baby Healthy Child, cares for over 1,000 women and children per year and provides access to healthy meals.

This work in and collaborations across sector sectors and with city departments like the Office of Food Justice is also central to the Live Long and Well Agenda's commitment to focusing efforts on long-standing health inequities, creating conditions for good health, and supporting all residents of Boston in living healthier longer lives.

So again, I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today, and I look forward to answering any questions.

Thank you.

Alright, good morning, Chair, Council Clynn.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the efforts to combat food insecurity and malnutrition in the city.

Thank you to Brini and the Boston Public Health Commission for setting a strong foundation of understanding for this conversation.

I will use my time to offer remarks of the efforts of several city departments to discuss our collaborative approach to combating food insecurity and malnutrition.

I'm going to start with our youngest residents.

Here is an impact report from Boston Public Schools Food Nutrition Services Department.

They provide a lifeline to families in that they offer food at no cost to any Boston public school student.

This includes breakfast, lunch, snack, supper, and summer meals.

This means that last year alone they served 8.4 million meals.

And from there, we've noticed that not only are they making sure that the meals are available and accessible, but they are trying to make sure that the meals that are offered are culturally affirming.

And they do this through various means, including celebration meals.

On the screen before you, you see examples of their lunar new year meal that they just offered this past February, as well as their Hispanic Heritage meal that offered empanadas made by a local producer.

And they have put a true focus on meal-wide equity, citywide meal equity, and that they make sure that the schools are able to prepare the meals on site by Boston Public Schools trained culinary professionals.

And for the few schools that don't have the infrastructure to cook on site, they have now newly equipped their central kitchen so that way they are preparing meals within the central kitchen and delivering them to the few schools that don't have the infrastructure to do it on site.

And some of the celebration meals, like they said, include these cultural heritage meals.

They also pay attention to affirming holiday meals that they have, including Diwali, Lunar New Year, Asian American Pacific Islander month, Arab American month, and I will offer that today.

The universal culturally appropriate meal is the Fenway Francs that they are offering in honor of the opening of Fenway Park.

Now moving from our youngest residents to our older residents, the work of our age-drong department really focuses on five core components, one of which includes home delivered meals.

So hot nutritious meals are delivered to homeboys, providing not only nutrition but a daily wellness check for our most isolated residents.

It also includes conjugate meals, served with over 30 community sites to promote healthy eating and social connection.

For each participant, they receive nutrition education support.

All participants upon working with HDRON receive one-on-one nutrition assessments and from there have access to nutrition counseling and nutrition education classes led by registered dietitians.

Residents also have access to targeted resources.

That means that we work in combination and coordination with the HDROM department to make sure that they have access to food resources that offer low-cost and no-cost information for where elders can find access to food within the city.

And they also act as a SNAP outreach partner to make sure seniors get the assistance they need to navigate applications and maintain enrollment in the supplemental nutrition assistance program.

As to Breedy offered earlier.

It is a federal benefit program in which households can spend monthly entitlement at any food retailer that accepts SNAP.

And in Massachusetts, we have a SNAP gap.

Approximately 440,000 people are eligible for your SNAP, but are not currently enrolled, therefore forfeiting significant federal dollars that could come into the state.

And if I would be remiss if I did not mention the impact of the OB3 bill and how it is slashed eligibility for legal immigrants and vastly expanded the work rules.

And these changes have put an immense burden onto the SNAP workers to screen for exemption for previously eligible participants.

Pivoting to some of the work of the mayor's Office of Food Justice, I would like to share that we take pride in making sure that the information that we have available for residents is accessible and accurate.

We do this by having a robust relationship with our language access department and make sure that all the resources that we have are translated and available in all 13 threshold languages for the city.

And not only that, we make sure that the information provided is accurate.

We partner with several community-based organizations to make sure that when you are getting information from us about a food pantry, about a low cost option, that the dates and times are accurate.

So that way you're not showing up to a place expecting resources only to be found only to find out that that information is no longer accurate.

And we are strategic in making sure that we share this information with our city partners, whether that's with the Office of Neighborhood Services, with Age Strong, with our external partners, we make sure that they have access to the same accurate information that is available to all constituents.

We are doing this through infrastructure investment by expanding the capacity of food recovery through support for the Greater Boston Collaborative Food Access Hub and bolstering local pantries through the healthy food access through cold storage grants for perishable food distribution.

The food access hub is a fantastic piece of infrastructure that exists in the city to make sure that these last mile organizations who are providing uh nutrition to our most vulnerable residents have a physical infrastructure to receive recovered food and make sure that it's distributed safely.

We also, the mayor's office of food justice also works with systemic coordination, making sure that various organizations throughout the city are talking to one another and sharing resources and allowing organizations to collaborately share the limited resources that exist.

And part of that is also working in food recovery.

We want to support scaled up food recovery to fill the gaps in fresh food availability faced by vulnerable Boston residents.

In addition to this work, the mayor's office of food justice also provides direct assistance through several programs.

Two of which I'd like to highlight today include the farmers market uh coupon program as well as the double up food box program.

As to Greening highlighted earlier, access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a great way to combat uh health inequities, and these two programs do that directly.

Through the Farmers Market Coupon Program, last summer alone, almost 420,000 dollars in farmers market coupons were redeemed at over 20 farmers' markets throughout the city.

And for the double up food box program, this is a federal grant program that in which the city provides match funding, and we partner with six different locally owned uh independent grocers to provide a SNAP benefit assistance uh program so that way any SNAP shopper who purchases produce at these participating stores gets an additional 50% discount.

And since the inception of this program, uh we have issued over $976,000 directly to these independent grocery stores, which reflects nearly two million dollars in fresh fruit and vegetable sales that are going into the mouths and family of families within Boston.

In addition to that, our office partners with the uh Grow Boston, the city's urban agricultural department, uh, to offer raised garden beds to any low-income resident who may be experiencing food insecurity, so that way they have the ability to grow food on their own.

These raised garden beds are provided at no cost, and they are not only put up in people's actual residences, but if they happen to live in a part of uh the city where they don't have access to their own plot of land, we also partner with local libraries, housing authorities to make sure that throughout the city that there are green spaces where residents can grow their own food.

On the screen are just some examples of these various sites where we have been able to establish raised garden beds, including schools, libraries, and housing.

I look forward to receiving any questions that you all have.

Thank you.

Yeah, but I think you might be switching to slides.

Thank you.

And while we're just waiting for Jennifer to share about women's lunch place, we have been joined by Councillor Weber.

Great.

Well, good morning, and I'd like to thank Councillor Flynn for the invitation, and Chair Councillor Murphy for the opportunity to join you today and to speak on this important issue.

Now in our 44th year, women's lunch place is a day and overnight shelter where Boston women access integrated services that address hunger, homelessness, and poverty, and always grounded in dignity.

Reducing food insecurity requires a combination of approaches.

Women's Lunch Place works both up and downstream to close the food security gap for women.

Last year alone, we supported more than 2300 women and served over 165,000 healthy meals.

For nearly two-thirds of our guests, women's lunch place is their primary source of food.

At women's lunch place, food is not a standalone service.

It is the launch point that links all of our work addressing hunger, homelessness, and poverty.

Our case management team addresses the root causes of food insecurity, unemployment, unstable housing, gaps and benefits.

But just as important, they help women navigate and retain SNAP and other nutrition supports.

In our housing and stabilization work, nutrition is essential.

For example, the meals we deliver to the WLP overnight shelter don't just meet a basic need, they stabilize women in crisis.

Access to consistent, nourishing meals supports sleep, medication adherence, and the ability to engage meaningfully in next steps towards housing.

When women move into housing, our advocates work alongside them to identify food resources in their new neighborhoods, places that take SNAP, culturally appropriate grocery options, and food pantries, so that housing stability is paired with food stability.

Chronic conditions, recovery from trauma, and mental health are all profoundly affected by diet.

Nutritious meals become part of the health care plan, not an afterthought.

And finally, our day shelter meals are often the first point of connection.

By receiving meals in a safe women-only community, women are engaged to connect to health care, housing support, and employment assistance, often all within the same visit.

A meal is how trust begins.

More than half of the women we serve are homeless, and among them, the vast majority are chronically homeless.

Two-thirds are over the age of 60.

At least half are living with a disability, and nearly all have experienced significant trauma.

This is the population for whom nutritious, accessible, prepared meals are not a preference.

They are a public health necessity.

Food insecurity isn't just about calories, it's about nutrition.

Calories alone may prevent hunger for the day, but the nutrition determines health for a lifetime.

Diets lacking fruits and vegetables are linked to higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, and weakened immunity, conditions that already disproportionately affect the people we serve.

Without nutrition, food insecurity becomes a pipeline to chronic disease.

By serving diverse, nutritious meals, and at WLP, we use over 90 fruits and vegetables a year.

By doing that, we're not only feeding people, we're preventing disease, improving mental health, and lowering health care costs.

Mass Health spends millions each year treating largely preventable conditions.

When we prioritize nutrition, WLP is practicing upstream public health, preventing disease before it shows up in Boston's emergency rooms and clinics.

And when meals are culturally familiar, appealing, and nutritious, people are more likely to eat and benefit from them.

Nutrition isn't a luxury, it's essential for public health.

While food banks are an essential part of our community response to food insecurity, for those lacking facilities or ability, meals programs like WLP's healthy meals are critical.

WLP is a SNAP outreach partner.

This collaboration between DTA and the UMass Medical School helps to defray the lack of capacity at the state level to enroll folks.

And with that goal of increasing access fits with WLP's service model.

Guests access services in this safe gendered space guided by case managers who have built trusting relationships.

Proactive on site benefit enrollment reduces women's reliance on emergency food services and other on site services like financial literacy and job readiness are designed to address the financial root causes of food insecurity.

The SNAP SNAP also has a substantial overlap and eligibility with Mass Health, and this creates an opportunity for us to coordinate access.

We've been very successful.

Our initial target engagement was 105 individuals.

We engaged over 500.

We approved 416, and we're just thrilled with that ability to connect people to this resource.

We're concerned, as were noted by my my colleagues here with what's happening at the federal level and the reduction in the reimbursement rates.

And it's also important to note that prepared foods are not accessible through SNAP benefits.

I will share one successful guest story and related to SNAP benefits.

We had a guest who had finally left her partner after 10 years of an abusive relationship.

She needed help with everything.

She left her home without any of her documentation, money, clothes.

She didn't have anything.

It was really complicated.

For example, she didn't have bills in her name to prove anything.

We had to start from square one.

Our advocate got her organized, and together they developed a roadmap for her future.

When she finally secured SNAP benefits, it was incredibly emotional for her.

She cried, and she told her advocate that she finally felt like an adult, she could finally feed herself.

And then she said she promised herself she was going to be a new independent woman in three years.

We see a lot of her.

She comes in and uses our resources.

She meets with her advocate for housing.

She made a resume, and she has really become ensconced in our community, particularly the empowerment group.

She is flourishing, and I have every reason to believe that she will reach her goal.

Women's pathways into food and security are deeply shaped by gendered roles.

Caregivers, mothers, partners, we see women fall into poverty after caring for aging parents, surviving domestic violence, or managing invisible injuries like trauma or brain injury that affect their ability to work and access benefits.

These aren't exceptions.

They're common structural pathways into hunger and homelessness for the women we serve.

At women's lunch place, our goal is not just to respond to crisis, but to prevent it wherever possible.

That means addressing the root causes that drive hunger in the first place through intensive case management that supports employment, stabilized benefits, and help women secure and sustain housing.

We're also deeply invested in reducing friction in public systems that work.

As a SNAP partner, we don't just help people apply, we help them stay enrolled, navigate recertifications, and avoid gaps that can push families back into crisis.

That's where policy meets real life.

We advocate for programs that work because SNAP works, but only when people can actually access and keep it.

Our role is to identify where systems break down and help fix them in partnership with the city and the commonwealth.

And finally, we see nutritious meals not as charity, but as infrastructure.

Healthy food in a safe, dignified space is what allows women to stabilize, engage in health care, connect to housing support, and move forward.

Women's Lunch Place is proud to be a trusted partner to the city, bringing nearly 44 years of frontline experience, policy insight, and practical solutions to the table.

We're eager to keep building upstream strategies together.

And I wanted to close with a video that we shared just last week at an event, but uh our guest um didn't want it shared beyond that that space, so I just want to tell you a little bit about it.

And that video, Evelyn said, when you don't know where your next meal is going to come from, first of all, you feel weak.

You have no energy, and then you feel scared because you don't know where you're going to eat at.

It's really difficult.

She further shared that her favorite meal at women's lunch place is breakfast because it gives her energy for the whole day, and she said our service is like eating at a restaurant.

She closed by saying the first thing I did at Women's Lunch Place was have a meal, and now I'm housed after two long years.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um thank you, all you for your testimony.

I think grounded us in a good place, and I do just have to say, Jennifer, when I visited a couple months ago and we enjoyed a meal together, it probably was my best mail of the week.

It's you know, the chef and the volunteers, it's just um you just do wonderful work.

So thank you for that.

Um, I will start with my colleagues for questions, Council Flynn.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the three uh panelists for being here, but more importantly, for the work you do across the city supporting residents in need, um, getting access to food uh nutrition nutritional food.

Um important work that all of you do and want to say thank you.

Um I'm glad that Jennifer, I'm glad that you're here from women's lunch place.

I I listened closely to all of your opening statements, and one statement that really captured me was a meal is how trust begins.

And then you ended your your comments about a a woman that she had a meal and then she was able to get services after that housing, I think, uh after that, uh, but it started with a nutritional meal and probably bu building trust as well, building a relationship.

Is that is that accurate to say to say that when you're getting someone a nutritional meal in a safe environment, then you can work on some social services that they that the women need.

Yes, that is the women's lunch place service model.

It is um it's it's people work, it's meeting um the women in the community, sitting with them, sharing a meal, and just starting to build a relationship and trust.

And these women um you know really have come from in most cases very traumatic situations.

Um they don't trust people, they don't trust systems, and um the work is is getting that trust back and connecting them to services in in our space.

So really the service model is to have all of these opportunities to touch different programs to work on your employment or your housing or your health care or your mental health care or your recovery um right in that space.

So, yes, it's very effective.

And maybe maybe a quick follow-up before I go to the other panelist.

Um, when I was there with my wife Kristen um in also my friend uh Vivian Lee.

Um Vivian was in the food pantry part of the women's lunch place, and I know women's lunch place provides a lot of nutritional food, culturally sensitive food to um the Chinese community, and the way Vivian was communicating with residents in their language was was important, but also she was providing the culturally sensitive food, but she was building a relationship with the woman, and they were talking about other services that the women's lunch place provides.

I think one woman needed some type of assistance with health care.

Someone needed some access to housing referral, but I saw how the volunteers themselves also play a critical role at women's lunchplace.

We have a terrific volunteer community, over 400 individuals, over a hundred companies and organizations that join us every year.

Um, and I think a lot of the things you mentioned are important in the work we do.

We really have um variety of um linguistic skills on on our staff.

I think we have seven languages that our staff can speak.

Um those are important um barrier-breaking skills for for our for our guests.

Yeah, Jennifer, um last question.

Could you just highlight to me what those um seven languages are?

Oh now you're gonna say Spanish.

Yeah, um, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, um Mandarin, Cantonese, um I'm not sure how many I'm up to the French.

Yeah, you're at six.

I think you covered them.

Um and as you know, my constituents in Chinatown and and in the South End in Bay Village, uh, that the Chinese community they speak um uh mostly Cantonese, so I know it's critical and important to communicate with them in in their language.

So I want to say thank you to the women's lunch place for excellent work, but also um treating these women with respect and dignity.

Thank you.

Um let me go to my next two um two guests.

Um let me just ask about assistance we we receive, whether it's from the sit from the state government or the federal government.

SNAP is a federal federal program.

But have we prepared nonprofits, have we prepared residents that there could be cuts to food access programs, or is there other ways that we're able to address potential cuts to food access programs, whether they're whether the it's directly supporting nonprofits or other organizations.

Just want to kind of get a general general idea of what the city is doing on that issue.

Sure, I can start.

I would say that our first priority is to make sure that if there are residents within the city that are eligible for federal or state programs, that they are enrolled and taking advantage of it.

So that is the first intervention is to make sure that they are aware that these services exist and that if they are eligible, that they get the assistance that they need in order to become enrolled.

From there, it's really a collaboration with other departments, including Boston Public Health Commission, including external partners to make sure that these resources are publicly available and it's not, and that we are making sure that all residents are aware, and that includes making sure that information is translated, that it is available in many different platforms, that we are getting it out to organizations such as Women's Lunch Place and other external partners who have trust within these communities, so that way they know that these services are available.

That being said, um, in regards to making sure that residents are aware of any changes to federal or state programs, we use that same network to make sure that there are any changes that we're using several platforms, whether that's social media, whether that is putting it in our newsletter, whether that is communicating with our partners, our folks in the Office of Neighborhood Services, so that way they are aware that these changes are coming down and to build that awareness to residents.

And I will say with the mayor's Office of Food Justice, we also have a pretty strong partner network in that we've actually built a directory so that way our community-based organizations are able to be plugged into what is happening, and also it's an opportunity for them to interconnect and share resources so that way if there is something that an organization needs, and maybe they don't have uh the resources uh within their own organization, they are partnering with others within the community, so that way we're making sure that we have that resilience outside of state and federal programs to make sure that they have what they need and that they are able to communicate with one another and keep us informed to provide assistance.

I would just add that um, I think in addition to all of these really key strategies, I think much of our outreach work, including through the mayor's health line that I referenced earlier, has been around expanding awareness of both health coverage and um uh supplemental nutrition assistance program access.

And so there's really been an intentional um effort to couple support for both of those critical supports, um, uh couple outreach for both of those supports in being in as many communities as possible.

Um I think the uh other piece I would add is that an outcome of the 2025 community health needs assessment process that we had was the development of a community health improvement plan which elevates access to healthy and affordable food as a key strategy to support health and well-being.

And so one of the objectives on that plan is to protect and increase dignified access to nutrition assistance programs, including SNAP benefits.

Um, this is really uh a framework for action that we elevate across our partners to say this is really when we um engage communities across Boston, access to healthy and affordable foods is um is a key priority area that we should all be working to address.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Do I have time for one final question?

Yes, of course.

Okay.

Um this will be a brief question, but for especially women that speak Cantonese that speak Spanish or or for residents that might live in public housing, residents that might be hard to reach for various reasons or and or communicate with what how would you reach them?

I know it's important for them to reach you, but how would you reach them so that they know about services?

And again, they might not speak English, they might be in a difficult um challenging environment, but how we physically reaching them so we can tell them about services that the city provides.

Excellent question.

That is definitely a priority for the mayor's office of food justice, and the strategy that we use is really building trust with the organizations that are already out in the community meeting with these families.

Uh we don't expect the public to exclusively come to us to get information.

We want to make sure that all of our partners in the Food System Network have access to the same information.

And we offer services as far as making sure that whatever resources we create, that they are accessible for them.

And whether that is making sure that everything is translated, being able to share information with them digitally in print, et cetera, to make sure that they have the resources that we provide in the way that is accessible for the clients that they are serving.

And as far as speaking specifically to women or those who are immigrants, there, each of our partner organizations may use different approaches.

For example, Boston Public Schools, they make sure that all their menus are available, translated.

So that way when their child goes into school, that mother can feel confident looking at the menu preemptively and saying, okay, this is this is what they're serving.

You can try this today.

Or it could be the food resource guide that we provide in making sure that that is translated and accessible.

So that way as they go to a pantry or to an organization like Women's Lunch Place, they have an idea of when are they in when are they operating, what services do they provide?

So they have an understanding it lowers that that uh barrier of the unknown.

Thank you.

Uh thank you, Madam Chair, for giving me an extra couple minutes.

Thank you.

We also have been joined by Council Mejia and Councillor Culpeper.

Um, Council Weber.

Thank you.

Um I guess uh for the for the whole panel.

Um I think when the Trump administration uh looked to suspend SNAP benefits, we heard from food pantries that uh even full SNAP benefits did not meet the nutrition needs of our families.

I guess you know what do you what are your what's your perspective on that and uh I guess what can we do that we're not already doing to close that gap I can say from the perspective of our guests um they're navigating a a lot of different um issues and so food security is usually coupled with health um issues and housing insecurity.

Um it's it doesn't fill the gap.

Um, and it's also in the case of our guests I mentioned earlier, um, they really many of them need prepared meals, and that's not something that they can access through SNAP benefits.

Um people who are homeless and don't have facilities, people who have cognitive issues, um a very high percentage of women who are victims of domestic abuse have traumatic brain injury, um, and that can that can you know become a barrier for them through the system as well.

So those are some of the the things that we see with our guest population.

Uh yeah, and I would just like to add that I appreciate you bringing up this question because we know that while our first order of business is making sure that anybody who is eligible for SNAP or eligible for any other nutrition benefit program is enrolled, so that way they have access to the benefit.

We know that uh there are some members of our population that for multiple reasons that is not accessible to them.

And so, an example of one of the ways that the mayor's office of food justice really tries to make sure that we are offering some sort of relief for these families that may not necessarily qualify or based off of their uh family immigration status, maybe they don't choose to participate in uh the SNAP program are not eligible.

We have other programs such as our farmers market coupon program that really uh makes fresh fruit and vegetables affordable for them.

It encourages them to meet up with producers at the 20 different farmers' markets that typically participate every summer, and they receive coupon booklets distributed by community organizations out in their city that they know and that they trust who can distribute the coupons who then give them the ability to go to the farmers market within their own neighborhood and have access to these fresh fruits and vegetables.

That's just an example of some of the services offered.

Okay, yeah.

And I think that I would just add briefly that um, you know, in addition to access to healthy and affordable foods, we really recognize that access to economic mobility and opportunity, of course, is really you know foundationally what will support good health and well-being for our residents.

And so as part of that work through the community health improvement plan and the Live Long and Well Agenda, it's partnering with community organizations, with our health systems, with our uh you know, cross-sector partners to really identify how are we working to support economic mobility through our programs through our policies.

And so one example is the recent partnership with Atrius Health Equity Foundation to support community coalitions working in neighborhoods where we are seeing challenging health outcomes to support access to things like good jobs, workforce development, access to benefits that will support individuals' economic mobility and opportunity.

Okay, yeah, uh I guess related to that, my my office worked with uh some students at the Harvard School of Public Health and about what we could do on the issue of like um maternal uh health outcomes uh for women of color and low birth weight, and the the recommendation was to be able to provide food, and I know Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center has has tried to do that.

I have have I I guess Dr.

If you there's if you've is there anything we can do, or there are programs that are we can launch that might uh you know uh go to that issue.

Could you clarify the question if you don't mind?

Is it specifically around health centers?

Well, no, the question is you know, are do in terms of matern health outcomes for mothers and uh low birth weight, is that you know, is there a food connection to access to food and is there something that the city can do uh to address that issue?

Um you know, I think broadly I would say that is certainly a priority of um of our uh healthy baby healthy child work, healthy start systems work that um the health department leads in supporting families you know with young children with um uh maternal health to uh uh improve access to access to food.

I think I'd like to reflect on that question.

I think with my colleagues, I'm happy to get back to you with specific recommendations, um, but I I think um not working in that space.

I think I'd like to consult with colleagues.

Thank you.

Okay, thanks.

Just two quick questions, I guess.

Um, so uh next to last is uh you know, in it when we saw the surge of ice in Minneapolis, there was uh a lot of coordination around delivering food to people who didn't want to leave their homes.

Uh I mean, do we have how would we launch a program like that here in Boston?

Do we have the infrastructure in place?

Uh you know, it what more do we need to do to be able to deliver meals to people.

What I would say is that we have a very strong trust with the community-based organizations that the mayor's office of food justice partners with, and really we take the lead from them because they are the ones who are most connected with the community, and they are the ones who can speak on behalf of their clientele to let us know this is what our clients need, and this is a support that we can offer.

So, us uh and the mayor's office of food justice, what we do is we are prepared to pivot, however, is necessary, but really we want to give the agency to the organizations who are directly engaging with residents who are feeling like they they could be compromised.

But you bring up a good point that there is uh a current climate of residents being fearful of congregating in large open spaces, and I know that some of the partner organizations that we have partnered with in the past have taken measures into their own hands for how they provide services to be able to quell that fear and provide an element of safety for their clients.

I'm not gonna point out specifics in the public hearing, but we'll say that we definitely take the lead from our community-based partners and how they accommodate their clients.

Okay, just the last question is you know, if if um I guess if you had access to unlimited resources, like what are some things that we are not doing that you know we would do if if if you had access to more I think um in terms of food insecurity, um just the level of demand that we're seeing at our door up from last year and every year that I've been with the organization for the past eight, our males numbers have gone up.

Um we just want to be able to meet that that need and we do that work beyond our four walls as well.

We are you know, we're reaching out to our to our um community to make sure that they have you know access to prepared males that are healthy and nutritious and um you know kind of filled fill the gap for their um themselves and their families city if funding were no barrier.

Um I feel like there are lots of opportunities to intervene and I feel like every Bostonian can resonate with the fact that food prices have gone up and an area of development and our work is really trying to uh hear from these small businesses, the independent grocers to make sure that uh there are grocery stores in every neighborhood that offer culturally affirming meals and making sure that those vendors who are providing the groceries are having their bottom who's having their bottom line met.

And so we want to make sure that the food provided is affordable to them.

Um, and we want to make sure that uh those businesses are able to serve their community, and part of that could be thinking about creative ways that we are making sure that these food businesses can thrive within the city of Boston.

Other interventions, if money were no uh barrier, would be thinking about what are other um programs and services that the city could offer to make sure that we can provide uh direct services or really supplement the services provided by our community-based organizations who are providing direct food relief, having a more coordinated effort.

Um, and so part of that could be instead of uh falling to the whims of the federal government for the SNAP program, uh is there some sort of way that we can have better uh food affordability and access for residents.

So, whether that is an alternative program that does not require participation in SNAP in order to be eligible in order to receive some sort of uh meal benefit assistance, or really thinking about how we can fortify the information that goes out to residents to make them aware of the services that already exist.

Like I said, we know that the highest trust are with these last mile organizations that are really dealing with clientele, and I also think that there is further development to be had to make sure that it is well known throughout the city, no matter where you go, this is where you can access affordable low-cost, no cost food in your neighborhood.

Okay, then thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Unless you had something to add, but uh that's good.

Okay, thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Councillor Mejia.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, and thank you all for being here.

As someone who grew up uh food insecure, this is definitely something that during COVID, my office stood up in a big way working alongside um bodegas corner stores.

Um we created the bodega project, which was an initiative that partnered up with nonprofit organizations so that people can get culturally competent foods right in their neighborhoods instead of going to food pantries or just getting a box of potatoes and oil that they don't really eat, well, great.

You get what you get and you don't get upset.

But the goal really was to um support our local um economy while also making sure that people didn't have to go very far to get food.

And that particular initiative was um designed when a mom who happened to be undocumented reached out to me afraid to go to her local pantry, and she said she didn't know where to turn, so obviously she had my number, she turned to me.

And I'm like, oh okay.

What's the number you know, give me the name of the local bodega that's in your neighborhood, and I'll call them and I'll make a donation, and you can just go pick up whatever you want unrestricted.

You could get food, you can get whatever you need.

And that's how the bodega project was born out of a crisis, and that level of innovation, especially under those circumstances.

What is what I'm really looking for the city to start thinking about now as we are dealing with another crisis, um, especially for um just everything that's happening on the federal government is trickling down and impacting communities, our most vulnerable communities, not just immigrant communities but people who were already food insecure.

We're seeing that magnitude.

And so I one question that I have is how are we thinking creatively to kind of really meet the moment uh based on the things that we were able to learn during COVID and how we're gonna continue to scaffold on that.

So that's one question for the city.

And then the other question that I have is around the budget.

And I love to always see Councillor Flynn advocate uh fiercely for immigrant communities, especially in this moment.

And so now because we're entering budget season, I'd love to get on the record, you know, what are some of the supports, financial uh additions that you would like to see to help meet the moment, especially whether it's communication for multilingual learners, like you know, what does that look like from a dollars and cents?

This is your opportunity to be really specific about what you need, and given the city council an opportunity to fight for those things because we heard it here.

So this is what we want.

Well, this is what y'all need.

Let's go.

Let's figure out how we utilize our political capital to do that.

So I like some specifics in terms of the budgetary allocations that you need, i.e., language and community, you know, community engagement access or more funding for grants to support our nonprofit organizations, whatever it is.

I'm not saying that I'm going to give it to you, but I'd like to get it on the record.

Um, and then lastly, uh, my office worked with a lot of mutual aid groups to build their capacity.

I always say that we are resource rich but coordination poor.

And I'd love to hear from you.

Um, how is the city looking to uh look at all of the departments that we have and how are you coordinating with other departments, whether it's you know the Office of Returning Citizens, Moya, Mola, we have a lot of different departments that uh support vulnerable populations, and I'm curious how you are interfacing with those departments to help support.

Thank you.

I'm gonna try to start at the top, but feel free to ask follow-up questions if I don't fully hit it.

But the first question that I heard from you is uh what are we doing to think creatively about addressing malnutrition food insecurity within the city?

And I feel like the example you gave is actually uh a really emphasizes the strategy that we use, and that we know that we do not have all the answers within the mayor's office of food justice, and so listening is always our first approach because we know that there are solutions from those with lived experience, from those who are on the ground engaging with clients, so really making ourselves available and having strong partnerships with our community-based organizations is paramount to how we engage because we know that we are going to find those creative answers when talking with folks who are dealing directly with clients in addition to the work that we are doing dealing directly with residents.

And so some of the ideas that have come up recently is really thinking about what we can do to address healthy food retail and thinking about from the perspective of these independent bodegas grocery stores.

Um we know that it can be a challenging environment to keep those stores open within the city of Boston.

So we need to hear from them, and we are partnering with the Office of Economic Opportunity to really think about how we can gain the perspective from these business owners or what are the resources that they need because they know the needs of their community, they are seeing the shoppers coming in, they are seeing what they are taking and what they're putting back and what assistance they may need.

So we want to make sure that those shops stay open because they are a critical resource for their community, and we are trying to do our best to start to work with them in partnership with the mayor's office and OEOI to really think about what do these stores need because they are a great advocate and litmus test for the health of their community.

Um to your second question as far as uh from a budget perspective, what is it that we think we need?

I will say that within the mayor's office of food justice, uh, the majority of our work is passing on our operating dollars into grants that are going out to the community or through programs that provide direct services to the community, such as the farmers market coupon program or the double up food box program.

Um, and we are trying to think creatively about what we can do, knowing that the double up food box program is actually a federal grant that will be ending in June of this year.

What can we do to make sure that we are still providing an off-ramp or a continuation of services for these participating small bodegas stores that are offering this fruit and vegetable nutrition incentive program?

Um so we are thinking about how we can transition those services into more of an umbrella program, and um during our office's budget hearing, we'd be happy to get into more specifics as far as numbers.

And when you come, if you don't mind sharing some stuff specifically around language access and communication, so I think that that's a big part of counselor Flynn's uh advocacy is really making sure that whatever services we have are being translated and communicated to the most vulnerable population.

So when you come for your budget hearing, you can talk about it.

But just plant those seeds, because you know, allegedly we we we're the ones that shepherd this budget process through some sort of amendment process, and allegedly we can do some things.

And so, if that is true, then this is the opportunity for us to fight for those things.

Okay, and then the the third question.

Yeah, well, I will say to language access, we have a very strong relationship with uh LCA office, and um we are very close as far as getting all of our resources translated as well as when we are hosting public events to make sure that we have interpretation services available, and we are extremely grateful to their team, they do amazing work.

Um we actually piloted a program not too long ago for the community outreach program in which the resources that we created, we wanted to empower community organizations to train residents and bring them up to the scale of essentially being a community advocate, being the expert, therefore an extension of the uh knowledge that exists within the Office of Food Justice, the Boston Public Health Commission to really get information out there from a trusted resource because we know that hearing from your your cousin, your auntie who never sharing about these are the benefits of programs that are available to you.

I can tell you where to go.

Here I'll come with you to the farmers market.

This is how you use the coupon.

That is the approach that makes people feel like they have dignity and have a greater understanding that there's someone there to act as a liaison and usher them through a process that is meant for their benefit.

And to your third question as far as what does uh the city do to make sure that there is interoffice collaboration?

I will say that as the Office of Food Justice, um everybody needs to eat.

So we are real popular with our other departments because it is very easy to bridge the work that any of the departments within the city is doing to food and food access and our food system.

And so we have robust relationships with organizations like the Boston Public Health Commission, as well as external partners and within the city of Boston, including the Office of Neighborhood Services, MOLA, Boya, OEOI, because every aspect of our city touches an element of the food system, and so uh we are always excited to have uh collaboratives to hold collaborative spaces with the various departments within the city, and um we will continue to do so.

I have no further questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Mejia, Councillor Calpepa.

Thank you, madam chair, and thank you for holding this significant hearing.

And uh thank you to all of the presenters.

Uh I'm convinced that with all the it seems like you're doing that we're missing the mark in a way that families are still experiencing lack of food.

From your perspective, what would it take to really meet the needs of the families that are experiencing food insecurities, especially as it relates to malnutrition?

Sure.

Um, I think you're right to name this as a tremendous challenge, and I think you know, um, from our perspective, as we look at sort of good health and what it takes to live a healthy thriving life.

I think we continue to see that we look farther and farther upstream, meaning that you know what it takes to buy that healthy, you know, nutritious food is enough financial security to feel like you can not just you know, certainly critical benefits like SNAP, but also having the financial security to pay for your housing to pay for all of the other expenses that may be you know surrounding a family.

And so I think you know, in in the work uh in which I sit, which is around our strategies for community health improvement, we really named the intersection of having financial security alongside having access to healthy food, access to health coverage, all of those benefits really coming together.

Um, and so I think deeper coordination is really so foundational, and I'm really proud of the work that we've um been leading Boston Public Health Commission alongside the Boston Community Health Collaborative and bringing together our partners like health systems, like community coalitions and organizations that really see their work as contributing to the health and well-being of Boston residents to say, you know, these are what the data say, um, these are what we are elevating as community priorities, how are we each contributing to this work?

And so um I would just say, like from our perspective, having that deeper coordination and then moving that to action, such as the investments made to support community coalitions in those neighborhoods I mentioned earlier with lower life expectancy.

I think that's one good example of like here is what the data are saying, here is you know the community's priorities, and how can we partner with philanthropic, with other organizations to invest directly in supporting exactly the organizations that are doing the work right now?

I think one of the great lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic was, as mentioned by my colleague, uh supporting the community strengths and the assets that we already have supporting the community organizations that are already present but need further funding, but need deeper funding in order to address some of these tremendous challenges.

I would just echo what Tabrini offered in looking at has those uh Maslow's hierarchy of needs really having the foundation of a safe, secure place to live, feeling like you're safe in your environment and you're and have a place to call home, and then thinking about ways that you can provide for your family, which include safe access to clean water and food.

And so in your question of where are we missing the mark or what can we do to fill that gap?

Again, I would echo some of the early remarks that we need to hear directly from families and find out what those gaps are.

Um, existing approach right now includes making sure that these families that do not have access to services that they are aware of the services that could be available to them that they are eligible for, and making sure that we are closing that gap between those who are eligible for nutrition benefit services but are not enrolled.

And so that really gets to what several members of the council have said as far as language access, being out in the community, making sure that there's a trusted resource, being able to provide this information to them so that way they know that these programs do exist and are available for them, and that they have a trusted liaison or resource to usher them through the process so that way they don't get frustrated by the bureaucracy of signing up for a program, etc.

Um, as well as beyond that, knowing that these federal state programs exist that do provide services, we as a city need to take a step back and really have these collaborative conversations with other departments and hear like what is affecting our LGBTQ community, what is affecting our immigrant community, what are the gaps that you see in your work, and where can we find places to collaborate and coordinate efforts?

And that has really led us to some of the strategies that we've employed in some of these other programs that provide direct resources to residents, such as the Farmers Market Coupon or the Double Up Food Box Program, and it really has informed us how we are engaging with these residents to make sure that resources are made available.

So, do you do any work with the free food program that the pantries are distributing to different communities?

The free food program.

Yes, so there are several organizations, whether it's uh uh food pantries or congregate meal programs, etc.

that have food available uh throughout the community, and so some of the work that we do in the mayor's office of food justice is not only acting as a uh convener and collaborator and providing us technical assistance as needed when food pantries are encountering issues, whether it's with getting a permit through ISD or them sharing resources that they need, we try to connect them with folks who are able to provide those resources, but we're also thinking structurally, and part of that can be reflected in the Greater Boston Collaborative Food Access Hub, in which the city uh allocated two million dollars in as well as with the uh uh Brigham and Women's who were able to fund this building that is able to recover food and hold it in safe cold food storage that then gets redistributed out to these last mile organizations and pantries.

In addition to that, um our office, uh the mayor's office of food justice also reallocated half a million dollars in a healthy uh in a healthy food cold storage access grant to 12 different organizations, uh allowing them to purchase the infrastructure needed to really fortify their ability to carry some of the healthiest food options for them, which are perishable items such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs, etc.

And so through that grant, we uh gave half a million dollars out to these organizations so that way they could buy infrastructure such as freezers, refrigerators, um refrigerated trucks, which is allowing them to take better advantage of the of the existing emergency food network and provide healthiest options for uh that that their clients need at these pantries throughout the community.

And so are you in touch with directly with the food pantries that are serving, let's say churches, let's just carve out churches for a minute.

Do you have a list of all the churches that are serving as food pantries to those that on a weekly or bi weekly basis coming to get food?

We have a food resource guide that we partner with uh a local organization called Vital Connections, in which they are not only helping us create that list, but also on a regular basis, they are calling these individual pantries, whether it's at churches, whether it's at a community center, et cetera, to make sure that we know what are the dates and times that they are offering meals, what are the resources that they are offering, are there any requirements in order to receive these resources?

Um, because not only do we want to make sure that we have accurate information about the services that are available, but we want to avoid the instance where a resident is referencing old information, showing up to a place expecting resources, only to find that the date or the time is incorrect.

So, yes, we are coordinating with um pantries, whether it's at a church or another institution.

But it but is the office of food injustice directly in contact with those pantries?

Uh through a through our through an intermediary.

Yes, we do it through an intermediary.

And so, what may make sense because here's what I see.

Uh I see that from the churches that are distributing food through their food pantries, are struggling right now.

I I see it myself, and they've been given out the same amount of food since COVID.

Even though the number of struggling families have increased, especially with SNAP.

SNAP made it even worse.

And the reason why I'm asking about that is because they've been given out, let's say they give out 250 boxes since COVID.

And you would think that since COVID, the number of struggling families would have decreased, but it's increased.

And I've seen the increase.

My point is that many of those pantries have seen such a rise in the families that are coming to get those foods that many families come and the food is given away.

Let me give you an example.

Um my church.

We give 250 boxes of food every two weeks since COVID.

After COVID, we would give those boxes out Friday.

We start Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, we would have more food.

We gave it out noon to 12.

If you go there this Friday or next Friday, in two hours, 250 boxes are gone.

And so we have all these people coming and they're scrambling to get food for those folks, and many times there's nothing left.

And so that's why I'm asking about direct connection to survey them to see how the city can begin to help them because I see it when I I go by there sometimes, and people are leaving with nothing.

Last week I stopped by they had a lot of boxes of eggs, doesn't people were coming just to get a dozen eggs?

And then they ran out of the eggs, and people were coming, there was nothing to give them.

And this food used to last from Friday till Saturday, and two hours it's gone.

So that's why I'm asking whether there's direct connection with them so that you can survey what they need and then be more supportive to them because they've been giving out the same amount of food since COVID, and they just have to turn many families away because they just don't have it.

You bring up an excellent point.

And one of the efforts that I'd like to highlight is our food recovery assessment that we conducted where we looked at every stage of the food recovery chain from institutions like the Greater Boston Food Bank all the way down to last mile organizations, including sites like your church, and really hearing from them what are the obstacles that the folks are facing, what are the challenges that they encounter on a daily basis?

What are the obstacles that the folks are facing?

What are the challenges that they encounter on a daily basis?

Have there been any systemic changes?

What are intervention points that they see that the city should be taking, or what are what are some cure alls that they would like to see happen at their level?

And so part of that has been included in our food recovery assessment because we want to survey folks from every every aspect of the food chain, including last mile organizations such as the church, as well as some of the recipients who are taking advantage of the emergency food system.

And so we do have that report available through both on our website and that what have we discovered from that report actually helped inform our healthy food uh cold food storage access grant, where we found out it became apparent to us that some of these last mile organizations and perhaps the situation with your church as well.

If you have a limit to physical infrastructure in which you don't have enough refrigeration to hold more eggs, more produce, etc.

That that was the gap that we saw that came top of list um when we first started the food recovery assessment.

And so that necessitated the grant that we gave out, but we know that's only the beginning, and uh the information that we gathered during that assessment is helping to inform further activities that we'll be that we will be pursuing in years to come.

Commend the women's lunch place and if if you had your choice, and I see you served 165,718 healthy meals last year.

You supported 2300 women.

To double that to 460, and to double the number of meals served, what would that take, in your opinion?

How much more would that cost?

Well, it's the capacity.

I mean, we would need more space, right?

We've made um capital investments in our kitchen um over the past year to make sure that we can meet the increased demand for food within the um day shelter community and and and our community meals program.

Um it would take more people, it would take more space, it would take more investment um to double that number.

The only thing really that is holding us back is the confines of the four walls that we up that we operate in, and we operate you know, beyond those in the community reaching out to um women in housing stabilization program and our overnight shelter, but really that um the the pressure on um the number of women um served within the day shelter community is simply the the space that we have and so your capacity your your overcapacity we are definitely overcapacity um we and you asked earlier um about the the what happened or during the like the SNAP crisis when we thought the benefits were going to be cut, and we just saw a surge of women coming to the shelter, many mothers with children fearful of what was going to come and trying to assess what their resources were, like the folks that you're seeing at your church.

Um and I think that we you know we know that there will be other um other kind of pivot points that we're gonna have to make based on what's happening at the federal level.

Um I think that we are trying to build at women's lunch place the infrastructure to be able to meet the increased need over the next um you know five to ten years, and we know that that the um the need is growing within communities that we serve.

I think fundamentally the bottom um like the foundation of the question you're asking is beyond the food systems, though, right?

I mean, many women that are walking through our door, many elderly women are people that never thought they would be homeless.

Their rents have just you know skyrocketed and suddenly they're out on the street.

The um safety net for women is just threadbare for many reasons.

Their gendered roles, their economic um opportunities, um, and it can be anything, a divorce, a disability, um, the effects of domestic violence.

So I think fundamentally we have to look at all the the systems and structures um that support our our city and our communities if we're going to you know really get to the bottom of food security.

Knowing what's happening right now, especially with the war, especially with gas and oil and just bread, and what are you gonna do over the next six months in anticipation of things getting much worse?

Yeah.

Well, like I said, we have we have made investments to do the best we can, things like refrigeration and new ovens and um chill chill blasters so that we can prepare more food and get more food out into the community.

Um we're investing in our staff and our case managers so that they can meet with more women.

We're trying to make efficiencies within uh our work flows so that we can um have more time with with different women.

So it's really an investments in people and in um in infrastructure that we're trying to make to meet that to meet that need.

What about problems?

You need us to do.

Sure.

With this, I mean we're in budgets season now, right?

We are chair.

Um seriously, you get money from the city, right?

We the city um supports us right now through our overnight shelter, I would say at the at the highest level.

Um that has been life-changing for for the women we're serving there.

For more than 40 years, women's lunch place was known as a day shelter community, and we've added the 65-bed overnight shelter um through both state and city support, and we have gaps in funding that we see in the future that we need filled.

So that would be, I think, a critical critical resource for women's lunch place to have those gaps filled because then those women are working towards housing.

We've already housed over 30 women into permanent housing from that um overnight shelter, which we envisioned not just as a traditional shelter, but as a um shelter to housing initiative where we have on-site um advocacy services, case management to move women into housing, they have access to all the services at our day shelter community, but we also bring services every day on site.

Um, it's an effective model.

It's something we talked about before COVID in terms of reimagining shelters and how we could help people be safer there and move on in this shelter.

Every woman has her own a key to her own bedroom and that sense of safety and um self-sufficiency in being able to move forward.

So those investments like that by the city in supporting an initiative like Women's Lunch Place proposed, I think is a key to kind of breaking the cycle that keeps women um food insecure.

Can you get something to us on what you need for this budget cycle?

Look, we can at least ask and put it in.

We can't make any promises other than Chair Murphy and Councillor Flynn Flynn that we can at least fight for it, right?

We can put it in, we can make the ass if you get it to us.

Thank you.

The least we can do is make the ass.

Look, I have no problem with asking.

Thank you.

And I and I do want to um, you know, I am so appreciative of the mayor's office of housing and Sheila Dillon and and the and the mayor for stepping up with um the funds that were allowed us to get this off the ground and going, and now that it's the impact and the success is being seen, I think we can make a great case, and I will certainly share those budget numbers with the.

Yeah, make the case, and so will we.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Chair, I just have one question about the Boston Housing Authority and uh I want to just look at the numbers for the Boston Housing Authority, and what programs do you think need to be supported more as you look at the number of uh food insecurity issues that BHA residents have, BHA Section 8 residents.

What is what's needed more?

Looking at the numbers and how high those numbers are I will just um just to affirm the what we saw in the data are rise, um our increasing uh rates of food insecurity among BHA residents and also um uh rent rental assisted residents, which I think is really pointing to that financial insecurity.

So um I think uh with I will not speak specifically to Boston Housing Authority just because it's a little bit out of my um my scope.

I don't know if you Melissa have anything um to add, but I'll just again uplift like this is really uh a challenge of financial insecurity broadly across um communities.

Is there anything that yeah, and I would I would have to reference my colleagues at BHA directly to talk about if they have specific programs that they would feel that they would be able to better articulate the direct support that they would need for specific programs?

Yeah, just uh one last question with regard to the student breakfast program, and I see 43% of students eat breakfast, 59% students eat lunch.

Falls public schools offers breakfast and lunch at 125 schools to 49,000 students.

Now, with the summer program, how does that work and does the summer program meet the needs of the same students that they're feeding breakfast and lunch with 49,000 students during school?

I will say that the Boston Public Schools as well as the YMCA of Greater Boston are two sponsors that provide summer meals when school is out, and similar to the meals that are provided during the school year, these meals are provided at no cost.

However, to your question as far as does it reach the same number of students?

Some of that may be due to the fact that some of these students are either enrolled in other programs, and so we wouldn't necessarily capture those numbers through the summer food service program.

But that being said, uh the summer meals program is very site specific as far as a means to prevent childhood hunger because through the summer meals program, a family has to have their child enrolled in a program where meals are provided through that enrichment activity.

There are also some open summer feeding sites in which it may exist at a school building, a community center where your child doesn't necessarily have to be enrolled in in the in a program, whether it's a sports program, academic program, anyone from the community, if you're 18 years old or younger, you can come by and have access to meal at absolutely no cost.

There's no ID check, no sign-up, the meals are provided for you.

That said, there are other programs such as the Summer EBT program that provides direct resources to families.

So it's for families that have a school-aged child, they get an EBT card where they get to choose where to spend that money.

It provides a little extra dignity in that they get to have the choice and the agency to select where they get where they are able to access their food.

They don't have to be at a specific place at a specific time, as it is with the summer meals program.

So there's about the 49,000.

Those that so is it fair to say that there are children during the summer that are going without breakfast and possibly lunch?

I think that can be said for any time of the year, regardless of summer, but you're correct that the Boston Public Schools Food Nutrition Services does a tremendous food security action by providing the high quality meals that they do during the school year, and that there is a gap during the summer.

And so, what do you think can happen to help close that gap?

Again, to as far as what can happen, um the existing federal program that is available to provide uh assistance to families with children over this summer, are essentially limited to the summer meals program, which as I said is a specific meal at a specific place at a specific time, or the summer EBT program, which you have to be eligible to receive a card in which you it's essentially additional funds where if you already have a SNAP card, those funds are available to you, and you can choose where to spend that money at any SNAP retailer in order to purchase the food that is necessary to feed your child while school is out when you could rely on the meals provided at no cost.

So I feel like there are opportunities to really think about how we can make what other programs could exist that provide that same level of dignity and give families the agency to get the food that they want for their child and for their family, especially during the summer months where maybe there's fewer structured programs, they have the ability to either pick up the food that they want, or specifically one of the biggest challenges that we've seen, and has been reflected in some of the challenges with participation in the summer meal program is that based off of the federal guidelines, a family has to come to a site and the child has to stay there and consume the meal on site.

They cannot take the meal and go, which was a waiver that existed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that's where we saw greater participation in the summer meal program because there was more dignity, you didn't have to stay and wait around.

Unfortunately, those federal waivers have been rescinded, and now it is a requirement that any family that does want to come, whether it's through an enrolled program or through an open summer meal site, the child has to stay there to consume the meal on site in order to receive it.

And so I believe that there are opportunities to explore other ways that we can find a way to have low-cost or no cost food available during the summer for families or at least the resources in order for them to access that.

No, thank you, because I think you hit it on the head.

What other programs?

And so I'm going to raise that with the uh school superintendent because I do think there are other programs that are needed.

And I'm also going to focus on that waiver that was rescinded.

That probably should be reinstated.

So that the young folks can't take the mail, come and take the mail home.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for all that you do.

And uh whatever we can do.

Uh like I said before, we can't make any promises.

But we can certainly ask on your behalf when you come to us with a request.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Councillor Flynn.

Thank you.

Um I have a few questions.

Umelissa, about the women's lunch place.

I know when we first started this hearing and you went through your slides, and I've seen firsthand, I know Council Flynn has reiterated with his history along with you.

Um how you started out.

If you could just share, I know you shared it with me personally, but how this whole pro you know the women's lunch place started because when we talk and in the last round of questions from Council Culpepper just made me realize when you're that you're saying we don't get city support, we didn't start out with city support, but because you are a safe place and you're a place that women who need, and as we know, almost all women who are food insecure also have other needs that you've proven, and Sheila saw that in the mayor's office of housing that you know they chose you to be a place to you know house women and give other supports that we are stepping in.

So thank you for being a place that we can trust with our you know our city dollars to provide that.

But if you could give a little bit of that um history just to kind of ground us in where you started, sure, sure.

So women's lunch place was founded um almost 44 years ago by two young women in their 20s um who were working in the shelter system but saw that women had no um safe place to be during the day and that there were no services specifically for women.

Um so they um asked friends and and family for some for money to to support this effort.

Um they secured space at in the basement of the Church of the Covenant on Newbury Street where we remain today.

Um it looks quite different from the church basement that it was when they opened.

They passed out leaflets around the Copley Library area, and the first day they served eight women chili, and they set that table with flowers, they served the meal on real dinnerware um practices that we maintain today.

It was about creating um a safe space with good nutrition and really forming a community, um, not treating these women as other, but really seeing them.

Um, you know, most homeless women don't hear their name, they hear their name like once a month.

Like people don't see them as uh they're invisible and then they're not seen and they're not heard.

Um, so just having that outreach to the community is where it began.

Um, and here um these many years later, what we've seen most recently in the last five, six years, is really um a growth in the number of elderly women um falling into homelessness.

We're seeing a need to address mental health um issues in the shelter to address recovery needs in the shelter.

You know, when I first became familiar with women's lunch place, the biggest issue around substance um use disorder was alcohol.

It wasn't fentanyl in the system at the time, you know, and now what we're seeing is just um sort of um barrier upon barrier for women um to to recover.

And so we we decided that we needed to bring those those services into into the shelter.

So having a terrific health care partner and health care for the homeless um program here in Boston and being able to bring in services from um from them.

We partnered with Greater Boston Legal Services to have a full-time attorney on site.

So these are all sort of new initiatives, but definitely built on that foundation of creating a safe space for women where they can access services.

And even like the flyer said, and sorry, I called you your colleague here, generally.

It's okay.

Yeah, but um, you know, you're providing solutions to food access, and I often think when I've been, say, at food pantries and filling the boxes, and I know there's a need at every different level, but for even myself, I think when we're putting in like cans and a big frozen turkey and you know, food, you know, maybe um, you know, potatoes, like how is this family who's coming to this door gonna be able to turn that box into an actual mail for their family?

And for many, I I don't I don't think they can if it's I mean there's times where I'm I can't find the can opener, right?

Like, or their oven may not be working properly, or they don't, like you said, have the dishes, the the cookware to actually make the mail.

And so there's just kind of a bigger question.

Like, are we providing food in a way that is the best way for families to then not just have a healthy meal but then find solutions to like maybe you know, the garden beds are one way, but how will we instilling like do we have cooking classes?

Are there other things?

And I know that you provide you have like a famous chef, the food is delicious, it's made healthy, but you also have that takeaway card.

Could you just kind of talk about that and what that provides for women who come to you?

So our name is deceiving.

We serve breakfast, lunch, and takeaway dinner, and the takeaway dinner program really started from our guest survey several years ago where we had a percent certain percentage of guests that were not satiated, um, and we wanted to really think about how we could meet that need.

Um, and so we decided that we would pilot this this program, and it was very popular.

And for many women, when they leave women's lunch place, that's the last meal they'll have that day if it weren't for that program.

And we also, you know, we will make sandwiches too for folks who you know won't be able to reheat a meal or anything like that.

It's you know, just a little bit more mobile for them.

Um so we really try to think about the whole person and their and the circumstances that they're that they're dealing with.

And has there been data on the best way to make sure that you know our food pantry um setup is the best way to provide food for our families, residents across the city?

I feel like what your question highlights is that food insecurity can look many different ways.

It is not just I don't have access to a meal right now, it may be I don't have the means in which to prepare a meal, it could mean I don't have the um equipment or a safe place to prepare a meal.

Or for many of the luxury of the time that may be working two jobs, so I mean it takes most people when you think of even like Thanksgiving.

Exactly.

People take a few days, even take days off of work to prepare prepare, you know, their thanks of giving mail, but that's the same box we're giving a family that's struggling just to make ends meet.

You're you're definitely highlighting the fact that food insecurity looks many different ways for many different folks, and we are fortunate that within the city there are different um organizations that provide um the level of service that women's lunch place provides as far as being able to triage and and offer uh ready to prepare meals and similar to with the age strong department.

Really thinking about do you have the ability to even get yourself to a site to be able to access meals?

So one of the efforts that I want to highlight on behalf of HROM is that they have their uh home delivered meal service to make sure that our eldest residents don't need transportation or have access to healthy nutritious meals, they're making sure that uh the meals are provided to them, uh, which not only is an opportunity to provide the nutrition that they need and is ready to eat, so that way they don't need to worry about the isolation is addressed.

Exactly.

It's the for many that's the only person they see all week, probably.

So they they take that very seriously in the HREM department and make sure that the that um it is framed as not just a delivery service but really a check-in.

Are there other organizations that are similar to women's lunch place?

I know you're not out there like competing, but that offer the same type of service.

I think um it's important that we um work with each other across systems.

I'm a founding board member of the National Women's Shelter Network.

We're now over 550 shelters and safe havens across the country strong.

Um, and I think that we learn from each other.

Um there are definitely um places with a similar mission to women's lunch place, but that that doesn't have the 40-year history of trauma-informed care and training and discipline that that we do.

Um so I I think it's a matter of lifting each other up so that we can all have the best practice models to serve women across across the city, the state, and the country.

Are you given opportunities to share your model?

Because even when I met some of the volunteers that day, I think they're on the some of them 25, 30 years, they continue to come back.

Yeah.

Well, we we do through the to the National Women's Shelter Network, we were planning right now our third um national conference um for September.

Um, and I'm leading a panel on health care and access to health care um and sharing the work that we do, but also um involving organizations from across the country that are that are trying to put these models together as well.

So there's a huge level of sharing that that goes on in that space.

Um, and I think with in the city, you know, we work closely with we know that our guests are guests at St.

Francis House at St.

Mary's Center, you know, we we serve similar women, so we do connect with each other and try to um try to share and lift up.

That's good, and thank you for all you do.

Um a few questions just logistics.

One, you talked about the six independent grocers that we've given over like 900,000.

How do can you list those?

Do you which ones are they?

Sure.

Well, it has evolved since the inception of the program, it started in 2018.

So there have been stores that have come on and then dropped off.

Yeah.

Um, and we're actually in the process of trying to bring in some new stores, but we have six different stores, three of which are in East Boston.

We have uh La Saltana, um, La Union, uh, we have Davies.

Um let me actually pull it up so I can do with the language question.

So are they like independent grocers?

Yes, they are all independent grocers, and the majority of them are um BIPOC members of the community, and they um are really plugged into their own community, and that is part of the reason why they agree to participate in the program.

Do we have the ability to expand the number of grocers that we offer this benefit?

We the current operation that we have is under the um Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, which is a federal grant, and that grant is set to expire in June of this year.

And so right now we are playing a game of financial Tetris to figure out how many stores we can add on to allow us to exhaust the the funds without doing it prematurely.

And so we um have we keep close track of the the re the redemptions that occur at each of these stores, and so we are looking to uh expand to a couple of stores to make sure that we have a good footprint while at the same time making sure we're not going to prematurely run out of funds.

And so that's where we're going to be doing some creative thinking once we get to the end of the federal grant cycle to figure out how we were able to collaborate and continue to provide resources to these stores, which if you would like the stores are uh Davies, uh La Sultana, Bella's Market, uh La Union, Nubian Markets, and Dorchester Food Co-op.

Awesome, thank you.

Um if you could explain and I think the food system network you've referenced is under the Office of Food Justice or just citywide, and then also you're the director of the Boston Community Health Collaborative.

If you both could just kind of touch on what that actually means and who's included in both of those ecosystems, yeah.

Sure.

What was the question regarding Bob's?

The food, like you've referenced a few times like the food system network.

Like what do you consider that?

Like who falls under that?

What ecosystem are we talking about?

Certainly, uh as you can imagine, food touches many different players throughout the city.

So that includes folks who are growing food, folks who are transporting food, the distributors who are bringing those the food to final destinations, whether that's a grocery store, whether that is a bodega, whether that is recovered food, so food that is coming from those uh retail uh locations that uh are then getting uh recovered and going into the donation stream, whether that is folks within the emergency food system who are either providing ready-made meals or providing food boxes for donations, or who are providing food education, who are providing um uh SNAP enrollment assistance.

It's really anyone along the spectrum who does work to make sure that uh every Bostonian has fair equitable access to nutritious food within the city.

And how does your office which I know recently has been codified, right?

Work in within that network.

Are you just one spoke?

Do you kind of oversee it?

Do you meet regularly and push out initiatives through your office?

Or people reaching out to your office expecting you to do that.

Yes, is the short answer, and that we act as a collaborator and a convener.

Uh through our platform, we have an interesting vantage point in that we have the opportunity to coordinate with all these different players.

And so we try to take that responsibility to make sure that we are connecting various actors within the food system to make sure that there is coordinated um action to make sure that resource resources are utilized wisely and that we are making sure that anybody who needs assistance, whether that is with tangible resources or even just sharing of expertise.

We try to act as a convener to make sure that these organizations have what they need, and also that they see us as a sounding board for when they can not only share the challenges and obstacles that they are encountering but also share creative ideas and really help guide our work.

It's a reciprocal relationship that we have with both our internal and external partners to make sure that what uh the Bostonian what Boston residents are experiencing helps guide our North Star and how we conduct our work to make sure that it is serving residents to the best of our ability.

And through your work alongside nonprofits, do you have a list?

I don't need it right now, but um of all of the nonprofits like the women's lunch place and others who are providing food to combat food insecurity across the city.

Sure.

We have a low-cost, no cost food resource guide that we make accessible in uh all 13 threshold languages for the city, and that connects folks directly to live information on where they can access low-cost or no cost information within their neighborhood because we want to make sure that information is accurate, up to date, um, and accessible to them.

So we make sure that, like I said, that it is translated and interpreted, but we don't keep it as necessarily a um a stagnant list because things adapt.

So we try to make sure that uh we develop those those assets in a way that can be updated in real time and provide uh as most accurate information as possible.

Awesome, thank you.

And if you could just touch on your role and like the public health.

Sure, I'm happy to speak about the Boston Community Health Collaborative and my role in particular.

Um, so the Boston Community Health Collaborative formerly was known as the China Chip Collaborative, but um it's really an effort of local health institutions, so nonprofit teaching hospitals, um federally qualified health centers, Boston Public Health Commission is a co-leading convener of this collaboration and uh community organizations that align our community health assessment requirements.

So it is a requirement through the Affordable Care Act for local nonprofit or for nonprofit teaching hospitals to conduct a community health needs assessment.

It's also a requirement through voluntary accreditation for local health departments.

Um so uh in Boston, we really try to bring those efforts together so that we don't have 10 institutions conducting separate needs assessments, engaging communities across Boston at different times.

So we align on a common coordinated assessment, it's done every three years.

Our most recent assessment was in 2025, and really our our core deliverable is this opportunity to come together, look at the data together, engage community in a coordinated way to identify key issues, um, opportunities to support health and well-being across the city, and direction to inform our action.

So there's the needs assessment report, and then the community health improvement plan is intended to be responsive to that needs assessment process.

Um our most recent needs improvement plan is the 2025-2028 community health improvement plan that we shared recently, and it really defines a framework for action, and our North Star is supporting healthy thriving communities working to close disparities that are contributing to life expectancy gaps and supporting community-identified priorities.

And I assume, like Dr.

Ojukuto and the board kind of work on that, right?

They use that as a guide for them, definitely.

That's right, yes, and this effort is aligned with the live long and well agenda to close life expectancy gaps.

Um, but uh we you know work really closely with our health department as you know both from the data end and in providing the supporting secondary data, but we also look at you know local data sources beyond what our health department provides, federal data to really understand key trends.

So we look at the trends and then we also engage community and bring that together to synthesize into some key areas where we really see when it comes to our our ecosystem of organizations, what can we be doing to support health and well-being across our city?

One last question on that.

Is our public schools one of the intakes for the public health assessment?

Sure.

So we look at um youth risk behavioral survey surveillance data, so the YRBS data.

We partner with BPS to look at that data and understand how trends um you know the trends for our youth and young adults.

We also really look at the strategies that are complementary through Boston Public Schools and identify areas to align with the community health improvement plan.

So really key partner in that work as well.

Okay, thank you.

I'm gonna go to my colleagues for any closing statements or questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair, for sharing this important discussion today on food access, how the most vulnerable people and um in our population have access to nutritional food, whether they're immigrants, whether they're people of college, residents living in public housing.

I think that's the role of government is supporting those that are in need in helping them.

It's about social and economic justice.

And I'm not just saying this as a as an elected official.

Providing really providing respect to women in need.

And that's an example we all could we all could live with.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

I'll just close by saying thank you for sharing the information.

I think that's important for us to be able to find ways to provide more because we know the needs already there, but the need is probably going to grow even more as the months go by.

But just thank you to the women's lunch place and many other organizations that you know understand that the food needs to be healthy, but it also has to be dignified, that always eating your food out of a bag or you know, on the run or in front of the television, right?

That when you sit down and there's that calm, healthy meal with the real plates and community that it's you know, healing women and everyone in so many different ways.

So thank you for knowing that and continuing to provide that for so many residents and just ways that myself and my colleagues can think of how can we expand those opportunities because everyone deserves not just food but food in a dignified way.

So thank you so much.

And if there's anything any of you wanted to add just to close, but just know we'll continue to work alongside you, and you've had some promises here from our colleagues that as we go into budget season, and you said it, and we know it's true that you touch on almost every department across the city.

So it won't just be you know, public health or your individual department that we have to look at when it comes to food access, language access, that we can lean in on each department to make sure that they're stepping up and have the resources to provide what we know they're forced to do all the time because they see it firsthand.

So if you wanted to close out in any way, go right ahead.

Thank you very much for your um time to really speak about this critical issue.

I'm really grateful for that.

Thank you.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn, for giving us the opportunity to speak.

Thank you.

My thanks for the opportunity to highlight the work of women's lunch place and our um interactions with the city.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

With that hearing on Docket 0179 is adjourned.

Thank you.