FoodChange informs, educates, and assists low-income New Yorkers in moving towards more sustainable means of combating poverty by promoting the Food Stamp Program. The federally-funded program serves as a strong line of defense against hunger for families and individuals. Approximately 700,000 New Yorkers are eligible for the Food Stamp Program but do not participate in it. FoodChange is committed to prescreening households for food stamps and conducting targeted outreach at hundreds of sites throughout the city.

Founded in 1993, the field outreach team is comprised of food stamp specialists who provide information on eligibility and benefits, offer prescreening services using current regulations and state-of-the-art software to ensure accuracy, and assist low-income people with the food stamp application process. The outreach team operates year-round and visits more than 200 locations where low-income New Yorkers can easily be reached. In addition, food stamp mediators assist clients who encounter problems with their current cases.

New Yorkers can also call FoodChange's toll-free food stamp information hotline to access eligibility information or call our call center to receive an individualized prescreening. To publicize our food stamp prescreening operations and hotline, FoodChange runs the Food Stamp Media Outreach Campaign. The Campaign has renamed food stamps as "the Food Card", seeking to promote a more positive perception of the Food Stamp Program and educate New Yorkers about its benefits, eligibility criteria and application process. It includes myriad advertisements and brochures in five languages that provide information about the Food Card.

For more information, or to request educational materials, contact Nicole Christensen at nchristensen@foodchange.org.