CAPI Food Shelf

CAPI USA's Asian-specific food shelf meets the nutritional needs of 400+ food insecure Asian families each month (~2,000 individuals/month), while serving as a gateway to public benefit eligibility screening and other economic support programs (i.e., SNAP, MN Sure and SSI enrollment and referrals to programs, etc). This program also manages 9-10 community gardens each year as a vehicle to stretch family budgets, increase healthy food intake and promote leadership and community building among food shelf users. On June 19, 2013, AIGA (the professional organization of design) and CAPI (a community-based direct human services provider of anti-poverty programs for refugees and immigrant) kicked off a pilot project to improve the lives of CAPI's food shelf participants. CAPI operates the only Asian-specific food shelf in the state of Minnesota, and the shift in where many of those who use this service live has created an opportunity to reassess the strengths and weaknesses of the food shelf. A three-person design team - Angela Wang, design strategist; Sieng Lee, design assistant; and Sook Jin Ong, public policy intern from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs - collaborated with CAPI staff and participants to better leverage existing services and explore new ways of addressing the needs of people using CAPI's food shelf.