7/13 mtg, USDA racial justice input due 7/15, Child tax credit, summer PEBT + Unemployment webinar

• The Shah Family Foundation will present recent data from the MassINC survey regarding food insecurity among 10,000 largely low-income households in 14 school districts in the state. 
• The Food Bank of Western MA, Greater Boston Food Bank and Project Bread will present some of their best practices/strategies when working to connect families with SNAP and mythbusting some of the SNAP rules.
• The last half hour of the meeting will include updates/discussion on DTA’s local office reopening.  

NOTE: Our next full Coalition meeting will be on Tuesday, August 10th.  There is a scheduling conflict for the 4th Tuesday of the month, July 27th, and many people are typically on vacation end of July and end of August. So our normal fourth Tuesday of the month meeting will be moved to Tuesday, August 10 from 10-11:30. This will be the only Coalition meeting in August. We will resume with the 4th Tuesday of each month for the remainder of 2021, with special presentations on the 2nd Tuesday as topics emerge.

USDA ask for input - July 15 deadline: Advancing Racial Justice and Equity and Support for Underserved Communities

The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) has asked the public for input on how it can advance racial justice and equity for underserved communities as part of its implementation of President Biden's Executive Order on "Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government". Input is due on July 15th- click here to learn more and to submit comments. This is an opportunity for individuals and organizations to provide input on the barriers communities of color and BIPOC, Latinx and AAPI households face accessing federal nutrition benefits including SNAP, P-EBT, free/reduced price school meals, WIC and more. We encourage you to share your feedback and thoughts with USDA! 

For example, you could:

• share with USDA how the SNAP application process is difficult for families you work with, or what policies you feel disproportionately impact families of color.
• flag for USDA areas where you think messaging and outreach are critical.
• identify ways that collecting data could help inform conversations about creating anti-racist programs.

Do not feel like you need to write lengthy, detailed comments given the short window for feedback.  We think there is value in simply sharing your experiences and/or the experiences of those you work with in terms of systemic barriers, inequitable policies, and how you see racism and racist policies playing out in terms of access to federal nutrition programs. MLRI will be submitting comments as well.  If you need help uploading your comments, please let us know.