PAVOAD Organizations Support Communities During the Food Insecurity Crisis

It is important to remember that:

  •  For People Who Need Help With Food = If you work with people who are no longer receiving SNAP benefits and need help with food, visit feedingpa.org to find a food bank near you.
  • PA Navigate pa-navigate.org/ can also help find food and other resources in your zip code. Local help is also available by calling ☎️211 or visiting pa211.org.
  • Pennsylvania has 2 million SNAP recipients. Most are children, older adults, or people with disabilities
  • $366 million is distributed in monthly benefits
  • 10,000 retailers accept SNAP
  • Local social service agency operations/programs are also impacted in some cases by the state budget impasse
  • 60,000 federal employees in Pennsylvania may be newly dependent on food assistance
  • There are no known disruptions to WIC or school feeding programs (universal free breakfast, free/reduced school lunch). Some local food assistance programs for older adults may be seeing impacts to capacity due to the budget impasses, but additional information is needed
  • The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is open.

These resources might be helpful:

What VOADs and COADs can do:

  • PA Navigate connects Pennsylvanians with social services in their communities. Community-based organizations can now list their volunteer opportunities on PA Navigate so that they can fill critical needs and help SNAP recipients find volunteer opportunities to meet work requirements and keep their benefits.  If your organization would like to list volunteer opportunities on PA Navigate, emailpanavigate@thecaap.org.  A Community Engagement Manager will assist you to ensure your program is listed and tagged accurately so individuals can easily find your organization’s volunteer offerings.  For additional resources or questions, visitpanavigatehelp.org
  • PA DHS has developed a communications toolkit to help Pennsylvanians understand these SNAP changes.  View and share the toolkit, which includes sample text, social media posts, and more.
  • To help Pennsylvanians learn about reporting requirements, the PA Department of Human Services has posted a new video to our YouTube channel. The video explains how to upload work requirements documentation to COMPASS, which is Pennsylvania’s benefits management website. Pleaseshare this video with SNAP recipients you work with to help them verify they’re meeting the new work requirements. If SNAP recipients you are working with have questions about how to report work, education, training, or volunteering activities, they can talk with a caseworker at DHS’ County Assistance Office or call the Customer Service Center at ☎️877-395-8930 (or ☎️215-560-7226 for people living in Philadelphia).
  • Check in with existing partners and help monitor for unmet needs. Monitor their websites and social media for current needs.
    • Volunteer needs
    • Last mile transportation for individuals to get food assistance
    • Wrap around for distribution sites including refrigeration
    • Disruptions to other food assistance programs
  • Let PEMA know about any unmet needs or other major efforts such as large financial contributions or large pop-up distributions (No need to share about food drives) – email PAVAL@pa.gov
  • Is the local senior center or food pantry providing updates?
  • Does your municipality’s website share information on community needs?
  • Is there a community bulletin board—physical or electronic—kept up to date (library, recreation center, etc.)?
  • Can your organization help people connect to food assistance by sharing updates, resources, and the key documents needed to apply for support through PA DHS.
  • Amplify local food bank/pantry messaging – cash contributions are best, food donations are good too, most needed items, where to donate

If your organization is active in this situation we ask that you complete and submit regular Situation Reports. You can either use the space provided on the form to report your current efforts in response to the ongoing food insecurity crisis or you can upload a link to your organizational daily sitrep, if you already have one. NVOAD is also monitoring the impacts of the SNAP benefits expiration.  Send your sitreps to PAVOAD and we will post them to NVOAD.  Thanks.