The SNAP-Ed program, which offers free nutrition and healthy lifestyle education for people eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, is nearing its final chapter due to a loss in federal funding after more than 30 years of helping families make healthier choices.

The program affects more than 1 million residents annually with about 2,000 statewide partnerships, according to the University of Illinois Extension.

As the program comes to a close and SNAP-Ed program staff face an uncertain future, the local community outreach worker team continues to do what they’ve always done: provide lifelong learning to families for as long as possible, the University of Illinois Extension said.

“Our community outreach workers are very talented, and we haven’t slowed down since the funding announcement over the summer,” Illinois Extension SNAP-Ed educator Morgan Pizur-Kranc said in a news release. “I don’t think people realize how hard this great team works to make a difference in the community, truly.”

Starts with people: ‘This is what I do’

The Illinois Eat.Move.Save. program, the state’s name for SNAP-Ed, is made up of over 200 staff members. In Kankakee and Will counties, this team comprises three community outreach workers and one educator.

“The community outreach workers provide research-based education to community members,” Pizur-Kranc said, “while I focus my efforts on helping organizations and communities create policies and systems that make healthy food access easier, and providing guidance to this talented team of facilitators.”

The program generally targets areas where at least half of the residents live below 185% of the poverty level, said Isabel Dyche, who works in Will County as a community outreach worker.

Some areas qualify automatically, such as food pantries, while others – including K-12 schools or food retailers – must meet additional criteria, all centered on reaching those with the greatest need.

It sounds complicated at first. However, as the team began talking, it became clear that the foundation of the entire program is built on growing local relationships.

Dyche said once you know the areas you want to influence, you simply have to ask.

“I knock on the door, I bring a folder, and I say: ‘This is what I do. This is what I offer. It’s free,’” she said in the release.

Learning in a safe and supportive environment

On paper, the lessons are about food and healthy living, but in practice, the program provides an outlet for learning in a safe environment that is unique, the Extension said.

SNAP-Ed community outreach worker Quinn Kilburg, who serves Kankakee County, cited a program done at the local YMCA child care center. In one activity, he watched as preschoolers wrinkled their noses, then reached back for seconds, during a “Tiny Trees Taste Test” sampling broccoli and cauliflower with hummus or a savory yogurt dip.

“It’s a great way to introduce kids to new foods in a really low-pressure way,” Kilburg said in the release. “They get to decide what they like. That autonomy matters.”

Teachers notice the ripple effects almost immediately, he said. Some say children are more willing to try fruits and vegetables at snack time, while others report that the youth are more apt to share what they’ve learned with parents and others.

One small breakthrough still stands out to Kilburg. A young boy, known for refusing anything beyond bread or crackers, surprised his teachers during a taste test. He loved dried mango, he liked hummus, and he asked for more, Kilburg said

“He really loved the flavor,” Kilburg said. “They were struggling so much to try to find things to feed him. But now the teachers, and hopefully the parents, have something to build on for a healthy future.”

Lessons go beyond cooking

At the Joliet Township Infant and Child Care Center, Dyche teaches teen parents – some still in high school – who are navigating adulthood earlier than expected.

“They feel like they know everything,” Dyche said in the release. “But behind that is a longing to learn more about the things they don’t fully understand.”

Dyche shows them how to read recipes, plan meals and experiment with unfamiliar flavors. When the group asked for quesadillas, she brought blue corn flour, something most had never seen.

“I said ‘OK, let’s try something new.’ They didn’t know there were different colors of corn, but they tried it and liked it,” Dyche said.

The lessons go beyond cooking. Dyche said she addresses the impact of sugary beverages, energy drinks during pregnancy, how to budget and how quickly small purchases add up.

One student later wrote her a note saying that she had saved $100 in a single month by changing her habits.

“She put it into practice, and she saved,” Dyche said. “That made me very happy.”

It’s a ripple effect

As the program continues the process of being sunset due to a loss of federal funding, the life-changing impacts of the work will not be erased, the Extension said.

Through every program the team facilitates, the focus is on information about choices and how those choices affect the body and the wallet. For many participants, that information becomes an “aha” moment.

“You see it click,” Kilburg said. “They realize they can change one habit, and that change actually matters.”

What has made the program work, staff said, is the trust built over time. Classes are delivered where people already are: schools, food pantries, child care centers, churches, housing programs, etc. Often, staff return again and again, becoming familiar faces.

“That’s when the real learning happens – when people feel comfortable enough to ask questions and share what’s really going on in their lives,“ Pizur-Kranc said in the release. “The effects don’t stop with one participant. A lesson learned by a parent reaches a child. A lesson taught to a child reaches a parent. It’s all about lifelong learning, which leads to lifelong impact.

“It’s a ripple effect,” Dyche added. “They tell their families. Their families tell others.”