Your Healthy Home Market (YHHM) is a volunteer and tenant run market that enables low-income households to increase food security, access nutritious food, improve diets, and learn about dietary habits that affect their well-being. Typically, three times each month Your Healthy Home Market delivers 800-2,000 pounds of fresh food (each time) that includes proteins, vegetables, grains, fruits, breads, plants and herbs, and harvested produce from the Alvord Court Community Garden. Local partners provide educational sessions that range from learning about produce, budgeting for food, food and health, cooking techniques, etc. After the mandatory class, low-income tenants and low-income community members “shop” for food at no cost to them. The frequency of our tenant’s participation has been well over 500 times per year.
While COVID-19 prevents the regular YHHM programming, having nutritious food has become even more important for low-income households. YHHM continues to operate during the pandemic, supplying food to tenants at each location who rely upon the Market to supplement their food supplies. Additionally, knowing that food scarcity is pressuring other service organizations as well, YHHM now also delivers to community partners who are also challenged with serving people in need during the pandemic.
Along with CAH-owned housing units, during COVID-19, YHHM’s broad reach includes:
• Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, serving the poor and homeless in South Tucson;
• Community Partners, Inc. food for low-income and formerly homeless persons with mental illness;
• Tucson Preparatory High School, serving low-income youth;
• Crossroads Adult Care Homes, serving food for frail and elderly adults in assisted living;
• Pima County Street Outreach to homeless persons, and
• Sister Jose Women’s Center, serving homeless women in shelter.
YHHM is bridging the need for healthy, fresh, nutritious food within its housing communities and in targeted sites in the community serving those most in need.
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