Emergency food boxes are almost always available at Cholla, Copperwood II, and Palomino Health Centers. Through our partnership with St. Mary’s Food Bank, NOAH receives 100 boxes per month at each of our participating locations.
What is TEFAP?
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of people with low-income by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), an agency of The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), administers TEFAP at the federal level by purchasing a variety of nutritious, high-quality USDA Foods and makes those foods available to agencies selected by each state; in this case St. Mary’s Food Bank. Food distributed through this program is intended as an emergency response to food insecurity and a gateway to longer-term solutions provided through other FNS programs.
Who is eligible?
TEFAP boxes are provided to NOAH with the condition that our team will verify eligibility criteria for every recipient and report back to FNS through the LINK2FEED online portal. Typically, when a patient screens positive for food insecurity, the provider or medical assistant will give the patient a Food RX form to be redeemed with NOAH staff at the front desk.
To confirm eligibility, the front desk must:
- Ask for government issued identification for new clients (we can use EPIC for existing patients)
- Enter names of everyone in the household
- Verify the household’s total monthly income is under Federal Poverty Level (FPL); and
- Ensure the client has not already received a TEFAP box (from any organization) for the given month
Once all the information is obtained, the front desk staff inputs the data into LINK2FEED to complete the process. Qualifying individuals will receive one box for a family of four and two boxes for families of five or more. Boxes are marked by month – if there are no more boxes for the given month, we cannot distribute boxes slated for the following month.
If for any reason we give out TEFAP boxes without verifying eligibility or if boxes are unaccounted for, NOAH’s participation in this program could be temporarily or permanently suspended. We were recently audited by St. Mary’s Food Bank at all three TEFAP sites and were found in compliance with no findings, so please keep up the good work! Although the process takes a little bit of extra effort, we encourage all team members to use this program for all patients who qualify.
What if my patient is not eligible for TEFAP?
In addition to TEFAP boxes, we regularly receive food donations from St. Mary’s Food Bank, WasteNot, and Farmbox Arizona at Cholla Health Center. This food is available to anyone who needs it while supplies last. Community Resources is also available to provide application assistance and agency referrals to patients and community members.
If you have any questions about NOAH’s Food Distribution Program, please reach out to Community Resources at crmanagement@noahhelps.org.
