Grants Will Also Help Families Receive the Earned Income Tax Credit
LOS ANGELES – Food insecurity, especially for families with children, rose during the pandemic as COVID-19 upended the U.S. economy. Last year, three million families were unable to provide food for their kids. While many receive free food from pantries, the state of California also offers assistance to low-income families through the CalFresh program. L.A. Care Health Plan is committing up to $1,231,650 to the California Association of Food Banks as part of its 2021 Community Wellness Initiative to help families enroll in CalFresh.
“Access to proper nutrition is critical to overall health, and we want to do all we can to ensure that the communities we serve have access to healthy food,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “With this grant, the California Association of Food Banks will be able to provide funding and technical support to 12 nonprofits who will enroll qualified families into CalFresh.”
Approximately 6,200 families or 18,000 individuals facing food insecurity in L.A. County will benefit from this commitment.
L.A. Care is also committing a total of $107,500 to two organizations that will help low-income families file their taxes and receive an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This is the fifth round of L.A. Care’s Community Wellness Initiative grants. Previous grants have resulted in tax refunds of $619 for more than 7,000 low-income residents in L.A. County. Some of those families received up to $1,500 in tax refunds.
“The extra money can also help provide nutritious meals for the families we serve,” said Baackes.
The 2021 EITC grants are going to:
The two centers will operate at five sites and expect to help up to 3,000 eligible low-income tax filers claim the EITC, potentially resulting in more than $1.8 million in tax refunds for more than 1,500 households.
The Community Wellness Initiative grants align with L.A. Care’s commitment to advancing health equity. L.A. Care believes that everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.