Food Access
The CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program is available to populations who:
- Lack access to a kitchen to prepare meals
- Are Seniors aged 60 and over
- Are Disabled
- Are Homeless Persons, not currently living in shelters
Specific Programs
In September of 2011, Thai CDC was awarded a planning grant from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Thanks to the funding provided by this grant, Thai CDC is currently researching the best ways the Prepared Meals Access Program (PMAP) can address the barriers discussed in the Hollywood Food Needs Assessment. Through interviews with known professionals in the field and surveys and focus groups with eligible individuals, Thai CDC will determine the best method to accept Electronic Benefits Transfer transactions for prepared food items at our upcoming Thai Town Marketplace.
Information
Contact Audrey Hollis at (323) 468-2555 or audrey@thaicdc.org.
Instructions and information for CalFresh enrollment can be found by clicking here.
Information about the CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program can be found by clicking here.
Prepared Meals Access Program
Located at Hollywood and Western, above the LA Red Line Metro station, Thai CDC’s upcoming Thai Town Marketplace (TTMP) will incubate 19 unique small businesses including food, craft, and service vendors and create over 40 jobs for low-moderate income residents. While we promote immigrant entrepreneurship, the location of the marketplace behind the Apsonsi Thai Town Angel Western Gateway will also drive tourism into Thai Town. In addition to the synergy created between the Thai Town Marketplace and the East Hollywood Certified Farmers’ Market, the Prepared Meals Access Program at the East Hollywood Certified Farmer’s Market will provide healthy meals to those who need them most. To improve access to fresh meals, the PMAP allows vendors to accept CalFresh prepared food EBT transactions (CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program).
Hollywood Food Needs
An assessment of hunger & homelessness conducted by the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness in 2003 found that low-income populations in Hollywood encountered barriers to “obtaining sufficient food and to eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.” Similarly, the assessment found that seniors had little knowledge of free food programs or were not satisfied with the quality of food provided at pantries. The assessment also found low rates of food stamp enrollment and use; only 37% of homeless persons surveyed receive food stamps, only 9% of seniors use food stamps and of the seniors surveyed, only 51% had even heard of food stamps. These at-risk populations not only lack cooking and food storage facilities, but also experience insufficient information about emergency food sources, restricted access to fruits and vegetables due to high prices, and receive low quality food devoid of nutritional value.