MyGarrettCounty.com

Strategy #1: Increase Access to Emergency Food Resources

ABOUT

Problem Statement

We want to directly address food insecurity in Garrett County by providing more access to food resources in a culturally competent manner. Previous models have shown significant success as standalone programs. However, data indicate that the need continues to grow, and there are many barriers to providing food to people in crisis and those who are chronically food insecure.

Aim / Overall Goal / Desired Result

The Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics Unit wrote a grant that CareFirst awarded to establish a food pantry as a consistent place for people to improve their food and nutritional security by 2027. 

Change Idea

Build partnerships and establish a dignity-first approach that uses a client-choice model and offers additional community resource provisions. Establish the 360 Access Hub!    

PDSA Objective

Increase the number of people with emergent food insecurity needs by serving individuals through the 360 Access Hub help form.

PDSA Cycle Number: 1

Estimated PDSA Implementation Timeline

From 2025-10-31 to 2026-11-30

What questions do you want answered for this change?

How many people in Garrett County have emergent food insecurity needs? How does having a centralized resource improve community access? Do people know we exist?

PLAN

Predict what will happen when this test is carried out:

The Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics Unit will serve at least 20 guests per month.

List the tasks needed to set-up this change: (Please include the person responsible, when the task is to be completed, and where the task is to be completed for each task.)

The first step, the ribbon-cutting ceremony to kick off wide-scale media and partnership building, was held on October 24, 2025. Presentations at agency partner meetings to keep them updated are ongoing throughout the cycle. Developing a social media presence for 360 Access Hub managed by the Garrett County Health Department will help us build awareness.      

Related Improvement Measure:

Number of Guest Registrations Received (Unduplicated)

DO

Describe what happened when you ran the test:

We began serving guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 24, 2025.  The help form on the website went live on October 31, 2025, as one public health response to the withholding of SNAP payments. 72 help forms were received, and on November 12th, 2025, PHII served 68 guests.  Since SNAP payments have been reinstated, 21 additional help forms have been submitted through November. December 10th, we will serve 21 of the new forms, and on December 17th, we will serve the 72 guests with second appointments.  Guest registrations have exceeded the predicted 20 per month.

STUDY

Describe the measured results, and how they compared to the predictions:

As a result, the efforts implemented appear to have a positive overall impact (nearly five times the predicted need). We continue to monitor the number of help forms submitted on a monthly basis. Numbers may have been exacerbated by the SNAP funding cuts, increasing the number of individuals presenting with need. Further needs assessments are required to guage ongoing and "surge" needs to adapt operations.

ACT

Describe what modifications in the plan will be made for the next cycle from what you learned:

In order to serve the significantly higher number of individuals in need, our team is developing robust infrastructure to support operations, including a pathways program and supporting resources to address Social Determinants of Health identified in the most recent Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and in alignment with our agency's Strategic Plan.