Food Assistance In SMC: Human Services Agency Launches New Site

From the County of San Mateo: The County of San Mateo’s Human Services Agency introduced the www.getfoodsanmateocounty.org website as part of CalFresh Awareness Month. This innovative pre-screening tool allows the public and service providers to pre-screen their household composition for all federal food assistance programs such as CalFresh, WIC, Free/Reduced School Meals, and Senior Meals in less than a minute. The goal is to help food insecure families understand which programs they are eligible for without doing a lot of research on their own, visiting multiple websites or offices.

“We estimate there are about 440,000 people every month who are at risk for hunger in our area, but who are not receiving any food assistance,” said Leslie Bacho, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. “San Mateo County Human Service Agency’s pre-screening tool breaks down some of the barriers that keep people from seeking help and allows them to quickly and easily see what kind of food assistance programs they may qualify for.”

The website was a concept that came from the End Hunger Workgroup, a coalition of community partners who have been meeting over the past year to address hunger in the community. While there are other pre-screening tool for a single food program, there has not been one for multiple programs, including local food resources.

“This is another great example of the County collaborating with our service providers and the tech community to create an innovative tool for the greater good of the community,” said Nicole Pollack, Agency Director of the Human Services Agency. “The End Hunger Workgroup provided the guidance and the website was coded by talented local developers on their own time through the Open SMC hack group.”

"Food insecurity is an issue that faces residents of all ages, including right here in San Mateo County, which continues to be one of the most expensive areas to live. I am excited that this new website will make federal food assistance more accessible for older adults. Our hope is that a loved one may use the search portal to find a food program for themselves, see the numerous programs available to older adults, and share that information with their parent, grandparent and/or older adult loved ones," said Lisa Mancini, Director of Aging and Adult Services, a division of San Mateo County Health System.

Please contact Edwin Chan at the San Mateo County Human Services Agency at 650-802-7568 with questions.

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