ARPA‑funded food programs report outcomes: local nonprofits say funding expanded capacity and reach

FAIRFIELD — Four nonprofit and county partners presented results May 7 from ARPA awards intended to expand emergency food provision and nonprofit capacity across Solano County.

Anne Putney of the county administrator's office summarized the ARPA awards distributed for emergency food and capacity building. She said the county provided $2 million for direct emergency food and $3 million for capacity investments and noted contracts expire June 30 for many recipients.

Catholic Charities of Yolo‑Solano (Whitney Galindo) described 55 mobile pop‑ups reaching roughly 1,500 households and expanding a client‑choice pantry model in Vallejo that emphasizes dignity and culturally relevant food. "All 55 of our pop ups have also layered on CalFresh EBT benefit information," Galindo said, describing outreach to increase food‑benefit enrollment and nutrition education.

The Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano (Caitlin Sly) reported using $500,000 in emergency‑food funding to purchase more than 400,000 pounds of local produce and to buy a delivery truck to increase direct agency deliveries; Sly told the board the network now needs somewhat more food on trucks as some pandemic food allotments have ended and asked the county to consider small reallocations to shift funds to food purchase.

Food is Free Bay Area (Heather Perini), a grassroots organization that expanded rapidly during the pandemic, said ARPA capacity investments enabled refrigerated trucks, refrigerated containers and training that allowed the group to scale mobile farmers‑market ("park at market") distributions. "Over the course of the grant we've served 181,945 individuals," Perini said, summarizing the organization's expansion from a volunteer front‑yard effort to weekly distributions across Dixon, Vacaville, Fairfield, Suisun and Vallejo.

Meals on Wheels program manager Tyler Dorman described investments in a new Fairfield facility (1000 Union Ave) that will triple program space and said the senior‑nutrition contractor has distributed more than 235,000 snack bags under the ARPA contract to help close daily nutrition gaps for homebound seniors.

Board members asked for lists of pop‑up sites and more detail on cultural‑relevance strategies; several supervisors praised the local organizations and emphasized the need to sustain capacity after ARPA expiration. Staff noted contract end dates and that some agencies are seeking small reallocations to shift focus from transportation or administration into food purchase as state pandemic supports decline.

What matters: the presentations document measurable reach and capacity changes tied to county ARPA funding (purchases of refrigerated trucks, new distribution sites, client‑choice pantries and demonstrated increases in households served), and several agencies asked the board to consider reallocations to preserve momentum as other sources of emergency food funding subside.

Next steps: staff will consider reallocation requests presented to the board and include partners in follow‑up procurement or contract adjustments as approved by the board.