We’re excited to announce the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger is supporting legislation in this year’s Colorado General Assembly that would move Colorado one step closer to a Restaurant Meals Program. We thank Senator Iman Jodeh, Senator Rod Pelton, and Representative Yara Zokaie for sponsoring Senate Bill 2025-169, “Restaurant Meals Program”!
The program is a state option through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Nutrition Service to allow specific populations receiving SNAP benefits – older adults, people facing housing instability, and people with disabilities – to use them to access prepared meals at restaurants. The legislation as proposed would put the Colorado Department of Human Services on a timeline to apply for federal approval to launch the program in Colorado.
Colorado pilot shows promising results
The Blueprint’s Restaurants in Community Pilot was launched in the summer of 2024 by the Food Access for the Unhoused project team. The project, generously supported by Beacon Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, set out to creatively help food-insecure individuals in our community by providing hot meals to individuals who would eventually qualify for a state-implemented Restaurant Meals Program.
It demonstrated the impacts such a program can have on 20 community members and restaurant owners, as well as gathered important qualitative and quantitative data to support Colorado’s future implementation of the program.
In Phase 2, the implementation was shifted to align with the authentic experience of using SNAP benefits to purchase meals. The program was expanded to 25+ participants, who were provided monthly gift cards of $150 to be used with specific restaurants. This method more closely tested the practical and on-the-ground program implementation in Colorado.
Sign up & join our efforts
To ensure that we can successfully move the Restaurant Meals Program closer to reality, we need your support in advancing SB25-169!
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Organizations can endorse this legislation.
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Anyone can sign up to stay informed on the bill’s progress and when to contact their state legislators.
