Community Engagement
Co-creating hunger solutions
OVERVIEW
Lifting-up Voices, Strengthening Solutions
Food insecurity is the result of years of racist policies and decisions that disempowers Black, Indigenous, people of color and other disenfranchised groups.
To address underlying inequities that contribute to food insecurity and food access, we strive to consistently listen and learn from the communities most impacted by food insecurity.
Knowing that the only way to achieve systemic and effective change is for solutions to be informed by people with lived experience, we convene people and organizations closest to the problem to co-create effective solutions.
Investing in Solutions
Empowering Community-led Solutions
Resourcing community-led projects that advance systems level change!
Project Bread is committed to removing barriers to food access in every community in Massachusetts. We invest in communities to support organizations in creating sustainable, equitable, anti-racist, and community-led systemic solutions to address food insecurity in Massachusetts.
These are strategic investments intended to advance community leadership, lived experience, and grassroots capacity. Our grants also prioritize engagement with communities that have been historically underrepresented in anti-hunger efforts.
Because by collaborating and supporting community driven work, we maximize our collective impact and get closer to achieving our shared mission of eradicating hunger in Massachusetts.
Since 2021
$800,000
Invested in community-led hunger solutions
Community of Practice
Working Together to Achieve Lasting Change
Our communities are full of mission-driven leaders doing important work. The Community of Practice creates a structured, ongoing space for those leaders - and for us - to learn from one another, share practical strategies, and solve problems together.
The Community of Practice is designed to strengthen organizations over the long term: building leadership, relationships, and shared capacity, so grassroots organizations are better prepared to engage in collective action and systems of change.
With the Community of Practice, we help build the conditions for change. Then we resource those conditions strategically and intentionally with our community Investments! It is support that goes beyond monetary funding, and that is what sets our work apart!
Community of Practice
Amherst
School of Public Health and Health Sciences, UMass Amherst
Brockton
My Brother's Keeper
United Way of Greater Plymouth County
Chelsea
La Colaborativa
Dorchester
New Beginnings Reentry Services
East Boston
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
East Boston Social Centers
Everett
Everett Community Growers
Fall River
Greater Fall River Partners for a Healthier Community, Inc.
Greater Boston
Boston Food Access Council (BFAC)
Greater Boston Food Bank
Holyoke
Holyoke Health Center
Let's Move Hampden 5210
Hudson/Framingham
Metrowest Food Collaborative
Lawrence
Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc. (GLCAC)
Lowell
Mill City Grows
Dwelling House of Hope
Malden
Templo dos Milagres Church
Mattapan
Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition
Milton
Mass in Motion
New Bedford
Marion Institute
Northampton
Hampshire County Food Policy Council
Quincy
Quincy Community Action Programs
Revere
RAC (Revere Arabic Community)
Roslindale
Roslindale Food Collective
Salem
The Salem Food Pantry
Statewide
Collaborative Parent Leadership Action Network (CPLAN)
Worcester
El Buen Samaritano Food Program
Regional Environmental Council
Thrive & Advocacy
We must
Develop authentic relationships. Involve those with lived experience. Support community-driven solutions. Invest in sustainable and systemic changes.
“Our anti-hunger community in the Commonwealth is at the forefront of innovative solutions that can solve hunger permanently –and the progress is only accelerating.”
Erin McAleer, President and CEO of Project Bread
Council of Experts With Lived Experiences
Empowering Leaders with Lived Expertise
People who are or have experienced food insecurity best understand the stigma, the cracks in the system, the barriers to assistance, what solutions work and how to make them more flexible and dignified. In order to be effective, solutions must be informed by those closest to the problem — and the pain.
Project Bread's Council of Experts with Lived Experience is a cornerstone of our commitment to centering lived experience. Designed to identify, cultivate, and support community leaders, the program empowers individuals to shape and lead advocacy efforts grounded in real-world expertise.
Stories of Impact
Two Moms Turn Personal Experience With Food Insecurity Into Solutions
Get to know Kelly and Paula, two of the inaugural members of Project Bread's Council of Experts with Lived Experience! Hear how they've harnessed their personal narrative and leveraged their experience to improve food access for others experiencing food insecurity.