CalFresh Outreach Volunteer

Save to Favorites

CalFresh, formerly known as the Food Stamp program, is a federally funded supplemental nutrition assistance program that provides eligible low income households with a means to purchase food. In San Francisco County, only about half of the people eligible for CalFresh participate in the program. Given this information, the Food Bank’s CalFresh Outreach Program is seeking bilingual volunteers to assist city residents in applying for CalFresh benefits. (This is different than volunteering in the Food Bank warehouse! Please see warehouse opportunities at vol.sffb.org/welcome). Volunteers will help our small team do outreach and pre-screen community members in the Mission, Excelsior, Bayview, Visitacion Valley and Potrero Hill neighborhoods. As a volunteer you will provide community members with a brief explanation of the CalFresh program, discuss eligibility guidelines, dispel common myths about CalFresh participation, gather pre-screening contact information, and/or make follow-up calls to interested participants. Unfortunately, because of the nature of our work, we cannot guarantee monolingual English speakers consistent volunteer hours.

Volunteer Availability:
Volunteers should be able to commit a minimum of 20 hours over the course of the year following the initial training session. Volunteer outreach can vary from about 2-4 hours per event. Hours available vary depending on how many events are scheduled, but weekday availability is a huge plus. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old.

Duties and Responsibilities
Volunteers who join the outreach team will be expected to:
-Attend an initial orientation/training session. During this session staff will present an overview of the program and basics of CalFresh participation guidelines, the application process, and how to pre-screen participants.
-Understand and explain the misconceptions, fears, and myths about CalFresh participation.
-Maintain client confidentiality.
-Must be able to communicate in a language other than English (limited proficiency is fine): Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog, Arabic, etc.
-Attend Food Bank distributions and community events to assist our participants with the pre-screening process.
-Some on site office work: follow up calls, logging pre-screening data, etc.
-Potential for increased responsibility based on capacity and commitment to the program.

Profile of an ideal candidate
-Ability to work well with others, including food bank staff, CBO staff, and volunteers.
-Fluency in a second language (Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog etc.).
-Availability on weekday mornings is a huge plus.
-Interest in social justice, community organizing, issues of hunger/food security.
-Ability and willingness to work with diverse communities.
-Some knowledge of the communities where we work: Mission, Excelsior, Bayview, Visitacion Valley, Potrero Hill.
-Basic computer skills and ability to learn new software programs.
-Good verbal communication skills.
-Must be able to commit to at least 20 hours to the program over the course of 1 year.

Benefits of Participation in Volunteer Program
-Collaborating with many community serving organizations in San Francisco.
-Experience working within a public social service program.
-Learning about food security issues in San Francisco.
-Potential for further training opportunities.
Orientation/Training
-Must attend our orientation/training session prior to community outreach.

Contact Information:
Francesca Costa
CalFresh Outreach Program Coordinator
415.282.1900 ext. 304
fcosta@sfmfoodbank.org

Thank you for your interest in working with our team!