Emerson Fellow Accomplishments »
The Emerson National Hunger Fellows have amassed an array of significant accomplishments in both the field and policy arenas. Emerson Fellows are proud of their accomplishments in field work and in policy work.
What partner organizations say about Emerson Fellows’ work:
“It was an opportunity to launch programs that would have otherwise been on the list of things that we would like to do. They picked up projects that would otherwise not have been done.” –Policy Site Supervisor
“Each fellow completed a School Health Index (SHI) in a grammar and middle school. The findings from one of the SHI’s were presented by the fellow and it had direct community-level impacts because it helped to launch a universal breakfast program in one of the local schools.” – Field Site Supervisor
I was able to work on a project that the organization had planned to do for at least five years. The organization, though, didn’t have the capacity to start the project until I got there. I was able to get the ball rolling.” – Emerson Program Alumnus: 2009, 15th class
Selected Accomplishments in Field Work
In past years, Emerson National Hunger Fellows have:
- Increased the number of farmer’s markets accepting SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits in several states by developing resources and analyzing incentive programs.
- Created an economic literacy curriculum designed to empower adult community members and students a curriculum and created a facilitators guide to starting farm to school programs in Arizona.
- Developed a best practices guide for dismantling racism within food security organizations.
- Organized several Hunger Advisory Councils, Food Policy Councils and Food Bank client advisory boards, all of which were comprised of community leaders.
- Created a Guide for Grocers on how to become an authorized SNAP (food stamp) retailer.
- Linked anti-hunger/anti-poverty programs to free tax preparation services and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) by incorporating public benefits screening at tax sites and creating a curriculum for use in training volunteers to run this new network of complementary services.
- Conducted community outreach, led meetings of community leaders, and helped initiate new children’s summer meal programs in counties not previously providing adequate Summer Food Service Programs.
- Authored a report assessing county-wide utilization of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) that includes results of a survey of all county family home daycare providers and group childcare, summaries of interviews conducted with CACFP stakeholders, and a mapping project depicting gaps in CACFP participation.
- Developed and implemented a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program for the State of Arizona, whereby WIC recipients gained access to the fresh produce of Arizona’s farms.
- Planned and facilitated the South Carolina Anti-Hunger Network’s statewide conference, “Hungry Children Can’t Learn: Hunger Issues in Education.”
- Organized, implemented and drafted community food assessments in communities in Washington D.C., New York and Kentucky.
- Established one of the country’s first food banks on a Native American Reservation in Lame Deer, Montana, and organized the first conference addressing hunger on Reservations.
- Conducted SNAP (food stamp) participation surveys, developed SNAP Outreach Toolkits and worked with service providers and clients to simplify the application process for SNAP in several states.
- Conducted a 71-county survey of Wisconsin’s emergency food pantries and meal programs to help the State of Wisconsin increase participation in federal nutrition programs.
- Co-authored a report on Food Stamp Program participation in New York State, including a compilation of data about responses to the emergency food system in New York City following the September 11th disaster.
- Established or enhanced numerous Kid’s Cafes, gleaning systems, community kitchens, mobile food pantries and food salvage programs.
- Created community garden networks in Seattle, Washington, Portland, Maine, and Santa Cruz, California.
Selected Policy Accomplishments
In past years, Emerson Hunger Fellows have:
- Drafted and disseminated a nationwide survey of state policy choices on the federal nutrition programs, and analyzed food stamp program caseloads nationwide.
- Drafted a strategic communications initiative regarding child obesity as a public health issue.
- Researched food stamp program implementation issues related to the homeless population.
- Designed and launched an online survey for Individual Development Accounts nationwide.
- Coordinated a Congressional roundtable discussion on Hunger in Latino Communities that brought several Latino leaders on hunger to Washington, D.C.
- Published articles on school mobility and the intersections of race, poverty, and hunger.
- Researched and wrote issue briefs on premiums in the Child Health Insurance Program and access limitations in Medicaid.
- Designed and implemented the Food Stamp Outreach website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, and staffed the national Food Stamp Outreach Coalition.
- Designed a Transportation Equity Scorecard to highlight the lack of public transportation available in low-income neighborhoods nation-wide.
- Promoted farm to school through USDA’s Child Nutrition Division through identifying opportunities for schools to use local procurement options, compiling best practices and the most effective models for Farm to School and updating a guide to buying and serving locally-grown produce in school meals.
- Researched and wrote a report on the role of micro-enterprise in welfare reform.
- Developed a Civil Rights newsletter, assisted with the development of a report on Police Best Practice programs addressing homeless issues, and documented hate crimes and the criminalization of homeless individuals.
- Created a database of state and local employment, economic, and program data to support national efforts and field activities on TANF and workforce issues, and established an on-line clearinghouse of innovative workforce advocacy information for the Workforce Alliance.
- Surveyed service providers working in migrant communities and recommended ways to increase their participation in federal nutrition programs.
- Organized a national conference of street newspapers for the National Coalition for the Homeless.
- Researched and wrote a report highlighting model after-school programs that include federal nutrition programs for the Food Research and Action Center.
- Created a fresh produce distribution program for Indian reservations through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.