Double Up SNAP

About

St. Joseph Community Health Foundation and Parkview Health have collaborated on and implemented multiple community health and well-being initiatives for many decades in Allen County. The two organizations have long worked together and separately to address the needs of the most vulnerable individuals in the community.

One joint venture targets improving healthy food access. Individuals with low incomes face great barriers, including limited access to healthy and affordable food retailers, which impacts the health and well-being of the entire family.  The HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Living) program and its partners are committed to improving healthy food options in our community. In 2015, HEAL opened farm markets in designated food deserts in Allen County and doubled the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables.

In this project, the double-up program is extended to include commercial retailers (e.g., 3 Rivers Co-Op, Health Food Shoppe, etc.)   and other farm markets (e.g., Fort Wayne Farmers Market, Plowshares at Electric Works, etc.) located in areas identified as high needs to increase the accessibility of fruits and vegetables to those with SNAP benefits.

Partners

• Parkview Mirro Center for Research and Innovation
• St. Joseph Community Health Foundation
• Parkview Community Health Improvement

Funding

• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) sub award from the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation

Publications and presentations

Press

• https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/heal-food-markets-kick-off-on-wednesday/
• https://www.inputfortwayne.com/features/healmarkets-doubleup.aspx

All projects