Population: 267,503
Project focus: Access to foods that support healthy eating patterns
Goals:
- Expand summer meals and after school dinner programs in the City of Paterson.
- Adopt healthy food procurement practices at institutions such as Paterson Public Schools
- Expand community gardens in the City of Paterson
Approaches and Partners
United Way of Passaic County, alongside Paterson Public Schools and Paterson Habitat for Humanity, fought to address the health needs of Paterson by increasing access to foods that support healthy eating patterns.The goal of this project was to bring partners and community residents together to push for systems and policy changes in Paterson and create a vision for a healthier city. In order to do this, they launched a Resident Advisory Board to provide strategic direction to the Passaic County Food Policy Council, and compensated board members for their time and ideas.
Successes (as a September 2022)
Their HCCC project advocated for the local school district to adopt healthy food procurement policies, expanded access to federal school meals during after school hours and in the summer and increased food production at community gardens. The project team not only administered a Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which aimed to bring local produce into schools, but also piloted a meal delivery program to reach community members who didn’t live within walking distance of distribution sites. The team also developed a districtwide school garden toolkit and applied for funding to support additional school gardens at community schools.
Snapshot 1 (July - December 2020) | Snapshot 2 (January - June 2021) | Snapshot 3 (July - December 2021)
Resources: