2026 Bridge Conference

Kaiser Permanente has been supporting community and school-based interventions to respond to food access and nutrition needs, in the places people need them. Through $1.78 million school-community partnership grants between 2022 and 2025, more than 50,000 food-insecure youth and families had improved access to out of school-time food, directly in their school communities.

Seattle Public Schools joined forces with FamilyWorks to implement a new family resource center model, providing tailored resource navigation and a mobile food bank at convenient locations throughout the district’s footprint. Bethel School District worked with Feeding Feasible Feasts to offer food through free school-based care closets and launch a school food recovery program allowing students to take healthy food home for at-home meals. FEED 7 Generations collaborated with Muckleshoot Tribal School to implement a Tend, Gather, Grow Curriculum focused on food sovereignty principles. And The Farm at Franklin Pierce Schools operationalized free farm produce distribution through district fridges, school meals, and summer meal sites.

The collaboration between school districts and trusted local community-based organizations built an infrastructure designed to ensure access to nutritious food for years to come. Incorporating youth and family voices into these food access solutions helped reduce stigma and increase feelings of belonging. These partnerships also supported families with enrollment in the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program and connection to other resources that improve purchasing power to buy healthy food.

This workshop is designed to share insights from these pilot projects, and a resulting toolkit that Kaiser Permanente has assembled, to support replication of school-community partnerships that improve youth and family food security in other communities. Insights are applicable to community-based organizations, school districts, funders, and systems stakeholders.