May 3, 2022
Mayor's Office
DATE: May 3, 2022
TO: Members of the City Council
FROM:
Tom Butt, Mayor
Subject:
CalFresh Awareness Month – May 2022
FINANCIAL IMPACT: N/A
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
N/A
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
In 2011, the California Department of Social Services
recognized CalFresh Awareness Month to increase
public awareness about CalFresh, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
which provides monthly food benefits to individuals and families with low-incomes and economic benefits to
communities.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
PROCLAMATION declaring May 2022 as CalFresh
Awareness Month in the City of Richmond – Mayor’s
Office (Mayor Tom Butt 510-620-6503).
AGENDA
REPORT
May 3, 2022
DISCUSSION:
In California, approximately 4.5 million people struggle with hunger and are estimated to need over $2 million per year in additional assistance to meet their food needs, and about 2 million people are eligible for CalFresh benefits but are not receiving them.
Annually, the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) helps over 35,000 low-income households receive CalFresh benefits. People who qualify for assistance through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) may also qualify for CalFresh benefits as well as all children born in the United States, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, and college students who meet certain eligibility criteria such as employment or parenthood.
Increased awareness helps dispel myths, such as: people on food assistance don’t work and don’t want to work (most households include at least one person with a job); recipients are a burden to taxpayers and a drain on the country’s tax revenue (SNAP benefits create jobs and stimulate local economies); poverty is too complicated to be solved by government (government assistance programs measurably reduce poverty and hunger); poor people will spend their benefits in irresponsible ways (benefits can only be used to purchase food); people are taking advantage of the program (entitlement programs like SNAP have extremely low fraud); the program is inefficient (SNAP dollars are spent effectively).
To find out if you qualify for CalFresh benefits, visit www.GetCalFresh.org, call 1-877- 847-3663 (FOOD), or reach out to EHSD at 510-412-3000 or www.ehsd.org.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Proclamation