Carmel commission readies mayoral grant bid to place benefits navigator in food pantries

The Mayor's Advisory Commission on Food Access on July 16 discussed plans to apply for a U.S. Conference of Mayors grant aimed at reducing childhood hunger in Carmel. Amanda, who led the commission's grant work, said Bradford Consulting Group helped prepare the inquiry and described a hybrid approach that would station a benefits navigator at local food pantries while launching coordinated marketing with partners such as Merciful Help Center, Carmel UMC and Grace Care Center.

"We decided that our approach to the grant is a hybrid model that would allow for placing a benefits navigator across Carmel's food pantries and launching a public awareness campaign," Amanda said, summarizing the proposal the commission is preparing to submit. She said the inquiry was submitted July 7 and that the application opens July 22 and closes August 21.

The commission discussed ways to strengthen the application by raising matching funds or securing in-kind support. Chair thanked Cindy and Jay for already meeting on the task force and asked commissioners to consider leveraging community connections to increase the project budget from $25,000 to a larger package if possible.

The proposal would coordinate outreach and enrollment assistance across service providers; Amanda said partners on the call included Share Our Strength and grant writers from Bradford Consulting Group. Chair asked Amanda to be the primary point of contact for the commission and requested that presenters who have relevant language or materials coordinate with the commission’s staff contact, Sheila, to ensure consistent messaging for immigrant families who may have concerns under recent eligibility-reporting changes.

The commission agreed to continue work on the task force and to circulate draft materials and partner commitments if the U.S. Conference of Mayors indicates the inquiry will advance. No formal vote on the grant application was recorded during the meeting.

The next step: Amanda said she will update the commission if the inquiry moves forward and will coordinate with Emily Weickerbrien (Feeding Indiana's Hungry) on data and outreach language to address potential concerns about immigration-related reporting changes.