On June 22, 2023, the Supreme Court declined to enforce the United States’ responsibility for the water rights it holds in trust for the Navajo Nation in the Colorado River. Although the Court acknowledged that tribal nations have water rights, it ruled that there was no requirement to secure or identify the necessary water resources for the reservation, ultimately excluding Navajo citizens from receiving a share of water that is inherently theirs.

Hunger Free Colorado is deeply dismayed by this ruling and stands in solidarity with our indigenous siblings in the fight for sovereignty. Indigenous communities are the true stewards and protectors of the land on which we reside, and we bear a moral obligation to speak out against the immeasurable injustices they continue to face. We urge our partners, advocates, policy makers, and community members to unite in solidarity with indigenous communities in response to this ruling and to maintain unwavering commitment to support indigenous rights.

Supreme Court’s Reversal of Affirmative Action – Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College

On June 29^th, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned affirmative action in college admissions, a policy aimed at promoting equal opportunities for historically marginalized and underrepresented groups in higher education.

Hunger Free Colorado strongly opposes this recent reversal of affirmative action, recognizing the significant threat it poses to the progress made in addressing systemic racial inequalities and promoting diversity, not just in higher education, but across all systems rooted in white supremacy, including our food systems.

The principles at the core of affirmative action closely align with the values necessary for achieving food sovereignty and justice. Historically marginalized communities that are disproportionately affected by food insecurity due to racist systems hold immense power in reshaping existing foundations into equitable systems for all, especially when given equal opportunities to thrive in higher education. It is crucial that their transformative potential remain unimpeded by the rigid barriers imposed by a ruling class entrenched in white supremacy.

Supreme Court’s Ruling Impacting LGBT Protections – 303 Creative LLC et al. v. Elenis et al.

On June 30^th, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to deny services for same-sex couples. This ruling emerged from a case in Colorado, where a web designer challenged the state’s anti-discrimination law which prohibits public businesses from refusing goods or services based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. The plaintiff argued that the case targeted messages, not people, with the intention of enabling business owners to express themselves creatively by refusing certain messages.

However, critics have reasoned that the distinction between message and status is not clear-cut, and dissenting liberal justices have warned of the ruling’s ripple effects, calling the decision a “license to discriminate.” Hunger Free Colorado expresses deep dismay over the harm this ruling brings to the LGBT community and aligns with and supports the dissenting justices. We share their concern that the ruling’s broad interpretation could exclude other groups (such as interracial couples or disabled people, among others) from many crucial services, including food services.

Hunger Free Colorado calls on policymakers, advocates, and community members to unite in denouncing discrimination and upholding the values of equity and inclusion. We believe that no one should be denied services based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.

Supreme Court Blocks Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan – Biden, President of the United States, et al. v. Nebraska et al.

On June 30th, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority blocked Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, which had the potential to benefit around 43 million individuals by forgiving up to $10,000 in federal student debt for Americans making under $125,000/year. Hunger Free Colorado expresses disappointment over this ruling, seeing it as a missed opportunity to address the interrelationship between student loan debt and food security.

Student loan debt can have a significant impact on an individual’s purchasing power, sometimes forcing them to make difficult choices regarding how they allocate limited funds which can result in compromises between necessities like medications and food. Alleviating the burden of student loan debt has the potential to provide individuals with more disposable income, enabling them to prioritize and afford healthier food options.

Biden has since proposed new measures to address student debt relief under the Higher Education Act. We urge the Biden Administration to address the intricate relationship between debt and food security, along with other financial strains, and pursue an alternative path to student loan forgiveness that could provide much-needed relief in these areas.

Introducing…

Iffie Jennings – Area Manager, Community and Government Affairs at Xcel Energy; Founder of The Kindness Network

I feel I can contribute in three ways:

1) As a Board member, I would help guide the organization’s direction by providing feedback on strategic decisions and helping shape the culture of our organization through my leadership skills.

2) As an individual volunteer, I would utilize my experience in external community affairs and engagement to help grow Hunger Free’s brand and increase awareness about the mission.

3) As a donor, I would provide financial support for the organization’s efforts by donating both time and money.

I understand that as a member of the Board, I will be asked to make decisions that impact people throughout the state of Colorado, and I look forward to using my skills and resources to help achieve this goal. I believe that this is an incredible opportunity for me to make a lasting impact on Coloradoans’ quality of life by ensuring that all people have access to healthy food. This is an important time for Hunger Free Colorado, and I am eager to contribute my experience and expertise toward this goal.

Esther Fuentes – Service Integrity Manager (DISH TV & Internet)

Watching my single mother constantly struggling to provide for her four children without government assistance shaped how I would later become more involved in my adult life towards helping end hunger.

Joining the board will allow me to utilize my passion so early ingrained in my early education taught by my mother in order to help those less fortunate

My management and organizational skills will come in handy when helping to facilitate meetings, networking events, and fundraisers

Leaving the future for our children in better shape than how I found it is my ultimate goal.

Gabriela Medina – Westwood Neighborhood Health Advocate, Healthy School Meals for All Steering Committee

A Westwood neighborhood health advocate and community leader, Gaby is a member of the Steering Committee of the Healthy School Meals for All Coalition and was previously a member of Hunger Free Colorado’s Metro Denver WIC Coalition. She is a passionate speaker that inspires others to get involved in their communities.

She has also experienced food insecurity and can speak from her heart about what that feels like and does to a person.

Adela Flores-Brennan – Deputy Chief Administrator Officer, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing

I have worked for over 20 years to help bring about changes to improve the lives of low-income families in Colorado. Through working on self-sufficiency, SNAP, and health care issues I have learned a great deal about the intersectionality of these issues themselves and their intersections with racial justice. Through this growth I am ever more committed to ensuring that we can bring about changes in our society that ensure that everyone has what they need to live their best lives.

I bring 20 years of policy advocacy in a range of social justice issues at both the state and general levels. I understand public policy from the advocacy perspective as well as the implementation perspective (within the state organization or agency). I also bring nearly 20 years working in small nonprofits, 8 of which as an executive director, and can understand staff, executive, and board roles and perspectives. I’ve served on several boards and can apply that experience to supporting HFC and its leadership moving forward.

Luz Valencia – Food Safety Advisor, Master Gardener, 4-H Club Leader, Hunger Free Colorado Community Council Member

Hello, my name is Luz Valencia, I am from the state of Sonora, Mexico. I have 3 children and my husband.

I am a Food Safety Advisor/Master Garden/leader of a Hispanic children’s club in 4-H. I like to participate in the community to appreciate what this country gives us and let them know that we like to help.

I want to be on the board of directors to help a little more and know how to bring better things to the communities.

How to help the board of directors is by giving ideas of what I have seen that is lacking in our community, I have had experience in this because I am on the Hunger Free Colorado community council, and I also visit the places where they offer food, and I see how there is a need to change some things here in my community.

Meet Jerima King, a naturalized citizen originally from Panama who has lived in Colorado with her husband and family for almost 30 years and volunteers for nonprofits that help immigrants and those struggling with housing, language barriers, and hunger.

Growing up in a very close-knit community in Panama, King has always placed great emphasis on the value of helping others, noting her mother as a wonderful role model: “Folks stayed at her place when they were having hardship, and she encouraged [her children] to be part of The Red Cross Youth in Panama.” Being the oldest of six kids, King adds that she grew up having the sense that life is not always just about your own personal comfort—it’s important to break out of your comfort zone and help others in need.

Panamanians or Panameños are culturally “all very united”—if you go anywhere in the world and meet someone else from Panama, you’re “instantly neighbors,” she says. This is something she has noted of many other Latinx groups as well. King continues to bring forth this friendly and open sentiment in her local community today, volunteering for various nonprofits and groups such as Accompaniment and Sanctuary Coalition of Colorado Springs.

“We want to be the neighbor you could ask for cup of sugar… We provide clothing, utilities, rent, and accompany people to doctor’s appointments and court appointments,” King comments when discussing some of her volunteer work. As someone who speaks multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and French, as well as some Portuguese and American Sign Language, she is often an interpreter for immigrants and has accompanied several women to their last citizenship interviews in Denver.

King became inspired by Bernie Sanders to help at the local level and has done everything from taking calls about I.C.E. incidents as a dispatcher with the Colorado Rapid Response Network (CORRN) to handing out food and toiletry items to unhoused individuals in Colorado Springs. She is especially passionate about achieving housing and food justice and is quick to point out the inefficiencies of current systems:

“Over the years, I became very aware that shelters are not a replacement for a home,” she says. “Care and Share,” a southern Colorado food bank, “is good, but it’s meant for people who have a kitchen and way of cooking food. These programs are not thinking about people who don’t have a way of cooking or of keeping milk, eggs, or cheese,” she observes, noting that the volunteer group had to start giving out camping can openers because they couldn’t rely on only receiving pop-top cans. Additionally, the unhoused can’t store many perishable food items including produce, so King and other community members find themselves distributing mainly packaged foods through the nonprofit Spreading Smiles & Sandwiches. They often serve 20-30 people and sometimes more than 100.

The homelessness problem in America is indicative of a larger, widescale culture of discrimination and systemic racism that has seeped its way into numerous other cultures:

“I lived so long in this white society that I did not appreciate that I was missing out on my culture. I was not supporting other people from my culture. In the different cities in the USA where I have lived, we’ve always been very comfortable with the American way of doing things without realizing we were losing the ancestral way of doing things.”

King admits that she does not celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month for this very reason—she feels guilty, but adds that she feels the celebration is also “lip service for many people”: “Why don’t you try to do something for the community all the time, not just during this month?” King rightfully asks.
Far too often, and especially when discussing Hispanic Heritage Month, individuals outside the Hispanic community are quick to assume that all Latinos share similar heritages and celebrate in similar ways. This is simply not the case. “One time teaching at a high school in Colorado Springs,” King explains, “someone asked me: ‘What are we going to do for Cinco de Mayo?’ I didn’t know what that was – I’m not Mexican. It’s not even a country celebration in Mexico.”

Instead, King emphasizes the value of educating oneself about other cultures as she does through her work across various Colorado communities. Thank you for all the amazing work you do, Jerima!

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Conozcamos a Jerima King, una ciudadana naturalizada originaria de Panamá que ha vivido en Colorado con su esposo y su familia durante casi 30 años y es voluntaria de organizaciones sin fines de lucro que ayudan a inmigrantes y a quienes luchan con la vivienda, las barreras del idioma y el hambre.

Habiendo crecido en una comunidad muy unida en Panamá, King siempre ha puesto gran énfasis en el valor de ayudar a los demás, destacando a su madre como un maravilloso modelo a seguir: “La gente se quedaba en su casa cuando tenían dificultades, y ella animaba [a sus hijos] para ser parte de la Cruz Roja Juvenil en Panamá”. Siendo la mayor de seis hijos, King indicó que creció con la sensación de que la vida no siempre se trata solo de la propia comodidad personal, sino que también es importante salir de la zona propia de comodidad y ayudar a otros que lo necesitan.

Los panameños son culturalmente “todos muy unidos”: si vas a cualquier parte del mundo y conoces a alguien más de Panamá, eres “instantáneamente vecino”, expresó. Esto es algo que también ha notado en muchos otros grupos latinos. King continúa transmitiendo este sentimiento amigable y abierto en su comunidad local hoy, siendo voluntaria para varias organizaciones sin fines de lucro y grupos como Accompaniment y la Coalición Santuario de Colorado Springs.

“Queremos ser el vecino al que podrías pedir una taza de azúcar… Brindamos ropa, servicios públicos, alquilamos y acompañamos a las personas a las citas con el médico y las citas en la corte”, comenta King al hablar sobre parte de su trabajo voluntario. Como alguien que habla varios idiomas, incluidos inglés, español y francés, así como algo de portugués y lenguaje de señas estadounidense, a menudo es intérprete para inmigrantes y ha acompañado a varias mujeres a sus últimas entrevistas de ciudadanía en Denver.

King se inspiró en Bernie Sanders para ayudar a nivel local y ha hecho “de todo”, desde recibir llamadas sobre ICE (Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas) y de incidentes como despachador con la Red de Respuesta Rápida de Colorado (CORRN, en inglés) hasta la entrega de alimentos y artículos de tocador a personas sin hogar en Colorado Springs. Le apasiona especialmente lograr la justicia alimentaria y de vivienda y se apresura a señalar las ineficiencias de los sistemas actuales:

“A lo largo de los años, me di cuenta de que los refugios no reemplazan a un hogar”, comentó. “Care and Share”, un banco de alimentos del sur de Colorado, “es bueno, pero está destinado a personas que tienen una cocina y una forma de cocinar. Estos programas no están pensando en las personas que no saben cocinar o conservar la leche, los huevos o el queso”, observa, y señala que el grupo de voluntarios tuvo que empezar a repartir abrelatas de camping porque no contaban con solo se reciben latas pop-top. Además, las personas sin hogar no pueden almacenar muchos alimentos perecederos, incluidos los productos agrícolas, por lo que King y otros miembros de la comunidad se encuentran distribuyendo principalmente alimentos envasados ​​a través de la organización sin fines de lucro Spreading Smiles & Sandwiches. A menudo atienden de 20 a 30 personas y, a veces, a más de 100.

El problema de las personas sin hogar en Estados Unidos es indicativo de una cultura de discriminación y racismo sistémico más grande y generalizada que se ha infiltrado en muchas otras culturas:
“Viví tanto tiempo en esta sociedad blanca que no me di cuenta de que me estaba perdiendo mi cultura. No estaba apoyando a otras personas de mi cultura. En las diferentes ciudades de Estados Unidos donde he vivido, siempre nos hemos sentido muy cómodos con la forma americana de hacer las cosas sin darnos cuenta de que estábamos perdiendo la forma ancestral de hacer las cosas.”

King admite que ella no celebra el Mes de la Herencia Hispana por esta misma razón: se siente culpable, pero agrega que siente que la celebración también es “de boca para afuera para muchas personas”: “¿Por qué no intentan hacer algo por la comunidad todos? El tiempo, no solo durante este mes,” King preguntó con toda razón.

Con demasiada frecuencia, y especialmente cuando se habla del Mes de la Herencia Hispana, las personas ajenas a la comunidad hispana asumen rápidamente que todos los latinos comparten herencias similares y celebran de manera similar. Esto simplemente no es el caso. “Una vez que enseñaba en una escuela secundaria en Colorado Springs”, explica King, “alguien me preguntó: ‘¿Qué vamos a hacer para el Cinco de Mayo?’ No sabía qué era eso, no soy mexicana. Ni siquiera es una celebración en México”.

En cambio, King enfatiza el valor de educarse sobre otras culturas como lo hace a través de su trabajo en varias comunidades de Colorado. ¡Gracias por todo el increíble trabajo que haces, Jerima!

The award comes with a $1,000 scholarship for professional development related to the awardee’s career and work within food access. Lindsey was selected from a strong group of nominees. This year’s selection committee includes Hunger Free Colorado board members, community advocates, and the award namesake. 

The 2022 Winner: Lindsey Loberg

Hayden Dansky, Boulder Food Rescue’s Executive Director and Lindsey’s nominator, said: “Lindsey has built upon a foundation of food distribution to share food and power. This has created space to cultivate leadership inherent within communities, and they have also leveraged this work to help coordinators of these programs develop language around their community organizing, which ultimately helps them have better access to employment opportunities, wages, and overall health and security.”

An excerpt from Hayden’s award nomination form reads:

Lindsey Loberg has worked as the program director of Boulder Food Rescue for six years. In their role, they have greatly expanded Boulder Food Rescue’s work to be more justice-focused through expanding the No Cost Grocery Program (NCGP), community-led distribution points of food access. They have conducted community-based participatory research on food access which has led to their published research on food access barriers, showing not just that barriers exist to accessing food but how they amplify one another. They have used their platform for BFR staff to better understand the experiences of community members and have used their voice to amplify the voices less likely to be heard in our community. They have worked to study and understand participatory programs and change BFR’s programs to be more inclusive, more participatory, and support the dignity of people within our community. They have also created a Participation Framework and have helped train other organizations to become more participatory and inclusive. Their work has led to BFR hosting 30 No Cost Grocery Programs, which serve thousands of people every year healthy food they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

Lindsey has also signed on to advocacy policies with the objective of supporting more people with food insecurity, helped create voter registration programs within BFR, and support outreach programs to better understand food access. This all shows that Lindsey has the purpose of working for justice and equity. Their work also has the characteristics of collaboration with other agencies and always being willing to share, learn, and create new ideas in the search for common welfare in the communities.

During Lindsey’s acceptance speech, they said, “I build my work on the idea that people always do what’s best for their own health and well-being, for their family’s health and well-being, and for the community’s health and well-being…there are always people in our communities who are looking out for others, making sure everybody is safe and that they have what they need.”

Learn more about past Kathy Underhill Scholarship Award Winners:

Roberto Meza, Emerald Garden Microgreens

Fatuma Emmad, Frontline Farming

Left to right: Marc Jacobson, CEO of Hunger Free Colorado; Hayden Dansky, Executive Director of Boulder Food Rescue, Roberto Meza, 2020 KUSA winner; Lindsey Loberg; Jana Henthorne, HFC Board member

During the 2022 Legislative Session, Hunger Free Colorado will advocate for policies that strengthen an equitable food system and ensure all Coloradans can access the nutrition they need in their communities. While we will be supporting our partners as they work on legislation to address Coloradans’ basic needs and well-being through cash assistance, housing reform, and more, our main focus this session will be on three key anti-hunger policies:

1. Create a Path to Healthy School Meals for All Colorado Children

Children need nutritious food to focus in school, stay healthy and support their well-being. Currently, all schools are temporarily able to provide school meals to any child who needs them as part of COVID-19 federal aid. Colorado should make this temporary option permanent and help thousands of children access the food they need learn, grow and thrive every day at school. Investing in healthy school meals for all is an investment in strengthening communities, reducing administrative costs, eliminating lunch debt, removing shame and stigma from the lunchroom, freeing up resources for schools and staff and supporting student well-being. Want to join us to pass and fund a community-informed policy to create school meals for all children in Colorado public schools? Sign up to join our coalition!

2. Extend the Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program for five years

The Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program has provided a lifeline to food pantries, food banks, and Colorado producers throughout the pandemic. The grants go to direct emergency food providers like food pantries and food banks to allow them to purchase products from local producers. Furthermore, up to 20 percent of the grants can be used by pantries to invest in other needs including fridges and transportation. These funds help pantries provide foods that their communities most want and need but that can be hard for these operations to supply, like fresh produce, dairy, and proteins. Hunger Free Colorado is working with a coalition of food pantries, food banks, growers, and food systems navigators to extend and strengthen this program for another five years. The proposed legislation this session will extend the program for five years using federal and state funds and support local procurement through technical assistance and better aligning grant cycles with the growing season. This will help Colorado community-based organizations to continue their response to the historic hunger crisis caused by COVID-19, while also fostering relationships between food pantries and local agriculture for years to come, fueling health for Colorado families relying on pantries for nutrition, and supporting a more equitable food system. Join the Food Pantry Assistance Grant Legislation coalition and sign onto the bill fact sheet by filling out this form!

3. Sustainably Fund the SNAP Outreach Program in the state budget

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides grocery EBT benefits to low-income households and serves as the first line of defense against hunger for many families facing financial crisis. Colorado’s SNAP Outreach Program works with more than 50 community-based organizations to connect eligible households to food assistance, provide education and information on SNAP, and assist with enrollment. This is crucial, as about 40 percent of low-income Coloradans do not access the program due to barriers to enrollment that outreach can help mitigate. SNAP outreach also makes good financial sense. What the state invests in SNAP outreach services is matched dollar for dollar by the federal government. SNAP outreach also fuels economic recovery as families connected to SNAP receive federal money for food that they quickly spend in their local communities. By our estimates, in Federal Fiscal Year 2020 every state dollar invested in SNAP outreach brought $14 to Colorado families in the form of federal food benefits to help purchase groceries, with an economic stimulus impact of $21! We must fund SNAP outreach in the state budget at $1.5 million to continue the important support the program provides as COVID-19 continues to disproportionately impact low-income families and communities of color. This increase of $500,000 will maintain current funding levels since the program has experienced a recent loss of private dollars. Complete this form to add your organization as a supporter of the SNAP Outreach funding request!

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You can help us pass these crucial policies! Sign up for our email advocacy list for legislative updates and to learn when there are opportunities to weigh in on these and other policies that impact Coloradans facing hunger.

Q: What made you want to join the Hunger Free Colorado Team?
Karla: Food justice and sovereignty is a basic human right issue. For too long we haven’t questioned the systems that pushed into the margins the communities we are serving. Charity doesn’t equal justice. I joined the team in hopes to continue the hard work of liberation for our communities, and that requires constant inquiry about the systems that had created extreme poverty for systemically vulnerable communities within the richest country in the world. As Lila Watson said, “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up to mine, then let us work together.”

Q: What is your vision for the Organizing and Community Partnerships Department?
Karla: My vision is simple:, to develop a thoughtful, intentional infrastructure within HFC that brings to the center of the conversation the lived experiences of community members whose voices were not part of the solutions to end hunger.

Q: Why is community-driven work so important?
Karla: The knowledge, wisdom, experiences, and the realities that our communities face have been constantly excluded from the conversations of potential solutions to drive change. Grasstop solutions have mostly replicated the same systems of oppression that have created the economic gaps and inequities that had brought our communities food insecurity. A first step in the conversation of food justice is to value the expertise, knowledge, and experiences that our communities have. Long standing solutions happen when the voices of impacted communities are centered in the conversations, not the voices of those who have no way to relate to the experiences of community members affected by the inequities and injustices brought by the very systems that have left our communities behind.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
Karla: Prior to a recent life changing accident, I enjoyed hiking, backpacking, camping, and just being outside in nature. As I recover from the accident, I have found ways to keep myself centered and grounded through meditation, breathing, and journaling. Now that my puppy is at home with me during my recovery, she is bringing an incredible amount of joy during these times and I am occupying a lot of my free time by cuddling with her.

Welcome Karla, we look forward to the changes your new position will bring to Hunger Free Colorado! If you would like to learn more about Karla and our Organizing and Community Partnerships Department, please don’t hesitate to reach out at karla@hungerfreecolorado.org!

The US Department of Agriculture is proposing a rule that threatens to severely limit a provision in the SNAP program (also known as food assistance or food stamps) called broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE). 

Colorado (and 40 other states) use BBCE to modestly raise SNAP income and savings limits so working families who are struggling to make ends meet due to our state’s high living costs, such as housing, energy, and childcare, can still receive this critical food assistance.  

BBCE strengthens the efficiency and effectiveness of SNAP by giving states flexibility, leading to administrative savings for states and counties. The administration’s proposal will weaken SNAP’s ability to address hunger by removing this effective tool. 

According to the Colorado Department of Human Services, roughly 48,000 households and 90,000 individuals (annually) would likely lose SNAP assistance in Colorado. 

Visit our Action Center to submit your comment opposing this harmful, proposed rule that will increase hunger and hardship in Colorado and across the country.

Read, What You Need to Know About SNAP and the Recent Federal Proposal to Change Income Limits, to learn more about SNAP and BBCE.

As a state we took some promising hunger-solving steps during Colorado’s 2019 legislative session. Our Policy Department has worked tirelessly to introduce and support policies that secure food resources and access for our fellow Coloradans. And we’re immensely thankful to everyone who attended our Day at the Capitol and signed our petition at the Hike to End Hunger!

Below is a snapshot of our recent policy work. To read the full report, visit HungerFreeColorado.org/policy-and-advocacy/.

Colorado Food Pantry Assistance Grant (2018 & 2019)

Hunger Free Colorado worked closely with the Joint Budget Committee to establish the Colorado Food Pantry Assistance Grant.

• Supports food pantries and food banks in purchasing critical meat, dairy and fresh produce from local Colorado farmers and ranchers.
• $500,000 was appropriated in 2018 and an additional $100,000 to fund the program in 2019
• Enables food pantries and producers to collaborate in providing fresh healthy food for Coloradans in need.

Rule Change Bolsters Food Assistance for Older Coloradans and People with Disabilities (2019)

This rule change, implemented March 15, 2019, has the potential to increase food stamp benefits for people with disabilities and older adults. It was developed by Hunger Free Colorado and the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.

• Households that include a person with a disability or an older adult can deduct their medical expenses in excess of $35 from their income when applying for food stamps (SNAP) raising their monthly benefit amount.
• Increased the medical mileage reimbursement rate from the IRS medical to the IRS business rate, allowing more Coloradans to deduct their medical expenses and ensuring that benefit amounts account for the true cost of medical care for older adults and Coloradans with disabilities.

Expand Child Nutrition School Lunch Protection Act (2019)

Also known as HB19-1171, this act expands access to affordable school lunches to high school students by covering the copay for students who qualify for reduced-price lunches. This bill ensures that Colorado’s students have the fuel needed to succeed in school and helps to prevent money-based shaming in school cafeterias.

Hunger is solvable but we can’t do it without YOUR support.

If you’re interested in ending hunger, sign up for our emails. (We won’t spam you, we promise!) You’ll receive:

• Updates about policy wins we started or supported
• Action alerts for policy that is attempting to weaken critical food resource programs

Hunger Free Colorado works from the federal to the local level to streamline processes and adopt policies and best practices that help alleviate hunger throughout the state. To support our policy work through a monthly donation, join the Full Plate Society!