Ensuring access to nutrition during the summer months

Nearly 200,000 children in southwestern Pennsylvania receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year. So, when class is out for the summer, hunger is often in session. Studies show that children who do not have enough to eat demonstrate an acute decline in language and motor skills, which adds to summer learning loss.  

As part of Welcome Back Summer, United Way provided grants to many agencies to supplement their ability to serve nutritious meals and snacks during the summer months. 

One nonprofit that has seen a profound increase in summertime food insecurity is Heritage Community Initiatives (HCI) located in Braddock. This summer, HCI served more than 1,500 meals a day, the majority to children ages 3 through 8. “That’s double what we do during the school year,” says HCI Executive Director Paula McWilliams.  

Scratch-made food prepared by HCI is made available to kids at several Welcome Back Summer programs throughout the Pittsburgh area. 

But meals and snacks are not the only thing HCI serves up to children during the summer months. Their summer curriculum helps kids retain and grow their knowledge through literacy and STEM-based activities, as well as through programs that encourage social and emotional well-being. 

But the highlight for many children and families is the meals, made from scratch and largely non-processed.   

“The meals they provide for the children are nutritious and more importantly real food!” says a mother of two children in the program who preferred not to give her name. “These other child care centers give children these processed meals just to save some money.”  

McWilliams credits United Way with not only funding the food initiative but also collaborating to create a “well-designed logic model that I think could be replicated” in other communities.