# Addressing Food Insecurity in Underserved Communities

> **NIH NIH OT2** · HEALTH CHOICE NETWORK, INC. · 2024 · $374,903

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Addressing Food Insecurity in under-Represented Minorities (AFIRM) is a proposed collaboration
including Health Choice Network (HCN), Jessie Trice Community Health System, Broward
Community and Family Health Centers and other Florida Federally Qualified Health Centers
(FQHCs), University of Miami’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and
Community Based Organizations including Feeding South Florida. We propose to catalyze,
deploy, and evaluate community-led structural interventions leveraging multisectoral partnerships
to address food insecurity and ultimately reduce health disparities at HCN FQHCs across Florida.
The first two years will involve planning, capacity and partnership building to develop/pilot
structural interventions to address food insecurity. Structural interventions will address the social,
physical, economic, or political environments that result in food insecurity. The interventions
include developing universal screening for food insecurity for FQHC patients using simple
validated measures of food insecurity built into the EHR. We will then leverage existing and new
relationships to develop structural interventions designed to help all persons who identify as
having food insecurity. In years 3-8 we will implement community-led structural interventions
addressing food insecurity and ultimately assess the impact of these interventions on health
outcomes. Interventions include assisting eligbile patients in applying for state and Federal
programs, linkages to food insecurity resources such as food banks/pantries located proximal to
areas of greatest need (including within the FQHCs) and developing systems to address
transportation barriers. More broadly there will be engagement of state and local policy-makers,
leaders, and health plans in developing programs and policies and community programs to
address food insecurity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11167951
- **Project number:** 3OT2OD035883-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** HEALTH CHOICE NETWORK, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** KATHERINE CHUNG
- **Activity code:** OT2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $374,903
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2023-09-20 → 2029-05-18

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11167951

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11167951, Addressing Food Insecurity in Underserved Communities (3OT2OD035883-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11167951. Licensed CC0.

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