Nutrition Assistance

Hispanic Health Council Helps Cut Through SNAP's Red Tape

The CTMirror reports that Connecticut ranks among the worst in the nation in processing food stamp applications on time and paying out accurate levels of benefits. And federal officials warn that without a "tremendous turnaround," the state could face significant financial sanctions.

Hispanic Health Council, along with its partner organizations, End Hunger Connecticut and the Connecticut Association for Human Services, is part of the solution. HHC's bi-lingual and bi-cultural counselors pre-screen would-be SNAP applicants, help them assemble all of the required documents, and act as a liaison between the client and DSS.

Our record: More than 80 percent of SNAP applicants pre-screened at HHC are approved on the first try! 

To learn more, listen to Sofia Segura-Perez, associate director of HHC's Center for Community Nutrition, interviewed by John Dankosky on WNPR's Where We Live.

Read more at CtMirror.com

Hispanic Health Council Research: Media Blitz Promotes SNAP Participation

The Hispanic Health Council has been a pioneer in using social marketing to increase SNAP participation by low-income immigrants and working poor populations in the Greater Hartford area.

Materials developed by the USDA have been translated and adapted for Spanish-speaking audiences and placed strategically in media outlets likely to be viewed by the target population.

The council launched its first media campaign in 2005, when a banner bearing the message: “You or Somebody You Know May Qualify for Food Stamps,’’ was placed outside the Hispanic Health Council’s building, located at a major crossroads leading into Hartford’s largest, predominantly Latino neighborhood. In addition, billboard-style ads were placed on city buses. Paid and free commercials ran on television, radio and in newspapers, in English and Spanish. Finally, flyers were distributed at various locations throughout the target area.

Research by the Hispanic Health Council indicated that at least 46 percent of people surveyed about the campaign were eligible for SNAP, but not participating in the nutrition subsidy before the campaign began.

More than 13 percent of people surveyed applied for SNAP as a result of the social marketing campaign. There appeared to be a dose-response relationship between the number of exposures to social marketing materials and the proportion of participants who applied after exposure. In other words, the more advertisements people saw or heard, the more likely they were to apply.

The Hispanic Health Council has repeated the USDA-funded social marketing campaign annually since the launch in 2005 and has helped thousands of people apply for nutrition assistance. The use of mass media to promote the SNAP program has since spread to other cities.

For more information, contact Sofia Segura-Perez, associate director, Center for Community Nutrition at 860-527-0856, ext. 260 or sofias@hispanichealth.com

One More Reason to Try SNAP: Lack of Food Puts Kids at Risk for Chronic Disease

Study shows repeated episodes of hunger are linked to long-term poor health. To find out more click here.

Newsweek: For Hispanics One Size Does Not Fit All

Full story

Comic books and Soap Operas Spread a Serious Message

To spread the word about the SNAP program formerly known as food stamps, the Hispanic Health Council has produced two comic-type books and a short video. The booklets are modeled after fotonovelas, picture books popular in Latin America that use photographs and dialog to tell romantic stories. The latest version is a video-novella, a sort of mini soap opera that tells the story of a woman struggling to feed her family and her relief when she discovers that government nutrition assistance can help. The fotonovelas, available in English and Spanish have been used across the country.

For more information contact Sofia Segura-Perez sofias@hispanichealth.com