Community Servings

Results: In fiscal year 2021, we prepared, packaged, and delivered a total of 798,137 made-from-scratch, medically tailored meals to the homes of 3,512 clients, their dependent children, and caregivers who were affected by serious illnesses. Over our 31-year history, we have provided more than 10 million medically tailored meals to our clients and their families.

Target demographics: Provide 875,000 home-delivered, medically tailored meals to 3,800 individuals annually impacted by critical/chronic illnesses and nutrition insecurity.

Direct beneficiaries per year: 3,800 clients, their dependent children, and caregivers impacted by serious illnesses such as HIV, cancer, and diabetes. 92% of our clients were experiencing poverty.

Geographic areas served: Massachusetts

Programs: Medically Tailored Meals Program: Through this program, we provide home-delivered, medically tailored meals to clients and their families affected by critical/chronic illnesses, such as HIV, cancer, and diabetes. Over the next year, we will prepare, package, and deliver 875,000 medically tailored meals for 3,800 clients, their dependent children, and caregivers across Massachusetts. This reflects continued growth that is driven by the skyrocketing rates of food insecurity stemming from the COVID-19 crisis. We are focused on expanding and deepening our presence in Massachusetts communities that have experienced systemic underinvestment. Nutrition Education & Counseling Program: Complementing our medically tailored meals, this year, our team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists will provide 8,500 hours of nutrition education to our clients, family members, and community members affected by or at risk for critical or chronic illness through virtual classes, workshops, one-on-one phone counseling, monthly newsletters, and nutrition assessments. This includes our recently-launched “Learning Kitchen Live” program, a robust virtual program combining healthy cooking demonstrations and simple, informative lessons on nutrition. Teaching Kitchen Job Training Program: Community Servings’ Teaching Kitchen program is a free, twelve-week culinary job training program that provides a supportive pathway to permanent employment in the foodservice industry for individuals experiencing multiple, major barriers to employment such as criminal records, substance use disorder, and homelessness. Over the next year, we will serve up to 88 individuals through our recently-redesigned Teaching Kitchen program: 48 trainees will enroll in one of our job training sessions to build and bolster their foodservice, job readiness, and life skills; additional job development and placement support will be provided to up to 40 recent program graduates to improve their employment outcomes. All eligible trainees will receive earned training wages of up to $5,000. Food & Health Policy Initiative: Over the past four years, we have undertaken robust research studies, in partnership with the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital, that have demonstrated that our medically tailored meals improve health outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs and nursing home/hospital admissions. In 2020, we were awarded two tremendous, five-year “R01” research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With these funding awards, we are expanding upon our previous research to conduct two key studies investigating the impact of medically tailored meals on individuals affected by Type 2 diabetes and HIV. This research forms the foundation for our advocacy work at the national level, as we work to integrate medically tailored meals into the clinical structure of healthcare.