The Hunger Heat Map

By Michael Hollister • June 12, 2015

The Hunger Heat Map is a critical tool helping the CAFB to meet the first objective of its four part strategic plan: to strengthen and fill in the gaps in the hunger safety net under the Greater Washington Area.
The Heat Map allows CAFB staff to look at the communities we serve by location, identify gaps, and target hunger interventions based upon the unique needs of each neighborhood. CAFB can now place or reallocate services to these gap areas, recruiting new food assistance partners or directly distributing food in areas of high need with not enough partner capacity.

Food Insecurity Rate	Pounds Distributed
Pounds Unmet	Filling the Gap

The Heat Map pulls information from many places, including:

• The CAFB Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, through which CAFB’s DC, Maryland and Virginia regional teams track interactions with almost 500 food assistance partners
• Primarius, the web portal that connects these partners with the CAFB’s menu of food inventory
• Census survey data
• Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study
• USDA food desert map

The Heat Map has already affected the CAFB’s work in each of the regions it serves:

• In Washington, D.C. the Heat Map was used to prioritize school locations for a new partnership between the CAFB and Martha’s Table to provide healthy food in every elementary school in Wards 7 & 8.
• In Virginia the Heat Map revealed suburban neighborhoods where children lack access to healthy food; CAFB rolls out its first ever mobile feeding bus that will serve children meals throughout Prince William County in June of 2015. This program was highlighted in a story during a June 2015 episode of Metro Connection on WAMU 88.5 FM, which you can listen to here.
• In Maryland, the Heat Map has enabled collaboration with local Prince George’s county leaders. We can see how our work overlaps with theirs, specifically through the Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative (TNI).