July 23, 2020
Since March 2020, Propel has been actively responding to the COVID-19 crisis in three ways:
- Sharing Information: Creating and maintaining a COVID Help Center inside Fresh EBT used by over 3 million households to connect with information about benefits changes, utility and housing assistance programs, Economic Impact Payments and other critical services.
- Delivering Cash Grants: Project 100, a partnership between Propel, GiveDirectly and Stand for Children is distributing $1000 cash grants to SNAP families that use Fresh EBT. As of July 23rd, we have met our goal of delivering $100 million to SNAP households using Fresh EBT. Watch the press conference here.
- Listening, Learning and Elevating Client Voice: We collect input via a bi-monthly survey to learn more about how SNAP households are impacted by the pandemic. Access our most recent findings here.
SNAP policy changes and adjacent programs
Since the onset of the pandemic, we have been working with states and monitoring public facing websites to message SNAP policy changes to households using Fresh EBT. We have also partnered with nonprofits to highlight programs that provide much needed assistance to SNAP families during these uncertain times.
If you’d like to set up a time to connect about ways to partner with Fresh EBT, please contact Jen, jen@joinpropel.com.
Fresh EBT connects households with cash
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that about 12 million low-income Americans are at risk of not receiving their Economic Impact Payment. These one-time payments help provide a measure of relief for families who are struggling to pay bills, rent and meet other financial obligations because of COVID-19.
Propel is working with CBPP, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and United Way Worldwide to connect SNAP households with information to better access these payments through Fresh EBT’s COVID-19 Help Center.