Community voices on food pantry grant initiative
June 26, 2024
The Blueprint invests in local communities to increase healthy food access, advance food justice, and support community-owned food systems across Colorado.
As part of our commitment to equity, we intentionally design our grant initiatives to minimize barriers, provide shared opportunities for community members to co-lead decision-making, and distribute funds to traditionally overlooked organizations and community-led initiatives. Our team also continuously evaluates the Blueprint’s grant initiatives to ensure they’re effective, efficient, and equitable at every stage.
This month, we released a new report that sheds light on the effectiveness of the 2023 Food Pantry Assistance Grant (FPAG) program. This multi-month community listening project, led by YAYA, collected insights from 60 applicants, grantees, reviewers, and community leaders to enhance the grant-delivery process.
Underscoring the importance of accessibility, equity, interconnectedness, and a culture of care, the final report recommends several improvements for the Blueprint’s grant initiative. They’re all intended to further FPAG’s transformational impact in increasing access to healthy, culturally affirming foods within communities while also bolstering more resilient and just food systems across Colorado.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the community listening report:
Inclusivity & Equity in Grant Access: Make the FPAG grant process more inclusive by creating accessible entry points for smaller food pantries, schools, and other community-based groups and initiatives that may not traditionally qualify.
Community Engagement & Outreach: Expand the marketing and outreach strategy to include more diverse applicants and reviewers across Colorado. Specific recommendations include better leveraging social media and platforms of partner organizations, as well as engaging with more community groups and local schools.
Building Community: Prioritize a culture of care and mutual support amongst grantees through orientations, gatherings, and other opportunities. Also, provide educational support for grantees, such as how and when to connect and work with local producers and ranchers.
Reporting Improvements: Create a more streamlined reporting process, with consideration towards reporting requirements and frequency as well as the use of online tools for submissions.
Reviewer Selection Process: Enstate a more intentional and inclusive process for selecting reviewers who are aligned with the values of equity and shared power. Also, standardize the number of reviewers per grant application to avoid any discrepancies.
Timing & Funding Allocation: Examine the possibility of better aligning the grant cycle with growing seasons. Also, look at offering more flexible timelines for spending grant funds and moving away from fixed deadlines that may not align with the realities of community needs.
Expanded Focus & Integration: Consider how agriculture and fresh food access fit within the broader ecosystem, along with intersecting issues around hunger such as housing and climate change, and what it means for grant administration.
There are many invaluable insights and recommendations from this community listening project and report that the Blueprint team will use to inform and shape future grant initiatives.
Through continuous improvement and holistic approaches that center equity and accessibility, we can not only better support Colorado communities in addressing immediate food needs of their residents but also foster equitable, sustainable, and thriving local food systems for the future.