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Q&A
Questions about Health Bucks program accessibility
1:03:50
ยท
93 sec
Council Member Stevens inquires about the accessibility of the Health Bucks program in her district, expressing concern that the only Health Bucks available are those she funds personally.
- Commissioner Berry indicates that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is responsible for distributing Health Bucks.
- Stevens emphasizes the high demand for Health Bucks in her district and the need for more information about how residents can access them.
- She highlights the importance of Health Bucks in making farmers market produce more affordable for her constituents.
Althea V. Stevens
1:03:50
And I guess my question even around the health bucks too, know you guys were talking about health bucks and partnering with DOH you are giving health bucks to organizations because the only health bucks I've also seen in my districts are the ones that I fund, so I'm trying to get an understanding of where the ones you're funding and how do my residents get access for that because they're only the ones that I fund that I've seen in my district.
Jill Berry
1:04:12
We'll have to get back to you because the DOHMH is the agency that gives out the half bucks, we partner with them to make sure that that the SNAP recipients have access to them, but we can talk to DOHMH about how they
Althea V. Stevens
1:04:24
Because I would love to know what that looks like because again in District 16, the only health bucks that are given out are the ones that I allocate from my funding and if they're supposed to be able to get access to the health bucks, I want to make sure that my residents also are able to have access to these health bucks because they love them and I get yelled at all the time because I can't give out enough.
1:04:46
Last year because you know the if you go to the the the farmers market, everything is super expensive and you know typically we can only give out anywhere between 15 and $20 and they are like I can only get a bunch of carrots.
1:05:01
So I would love to know if there's a place that I can recommend for them to go to support what I'm doing, but at this time in the area of food insecurities, my district is super overburdened with it and I feel like I'm like drowning over here because I'm the one trying to pick up the burden and if there's things that they should be able to get access to, I would love for my district to be able to get access to it.