Providence Montana helps nourish the community

Missoula Food Bank & Community Center serves one in five people, 25,000 individuals and 7,500 households in Missoula County. Providence Montana supports a resource specialist who assesses the needs of those who use the emergency food pantry, identifies gaps in critical household services and connects them to needed services to improve their social determinants of health.  

At MFB&CC, the program application coordinator, staff and a cohort of volunteers provide people with necessary resources to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and other essential programs like Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Providence’s investment will improve long-term food access and overall health outcomes for people served by MFB&CC.  

When a father of a family of five suddenly lost his job, Missoula Food Bank's program application coordinator immediately helped the family apply for backdated SNAP and Medicaid benefits. MFB&CC staff assisted the family in applying for summer food assistance funds, which helped the family to stabilize and afford food during the summer and fall. When both parents returned to work, the family no longer qualified for SNAP, but the family remains on Medicaid and will reapply for SNAP with MFB&CC for the summer.