Proposals must be sealed and clearly marked “Small Business & Food Enrollment Campaign” and submitted to the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer no later than 11:00AM on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
The City of Chelsea, Massachusetts, through its Department of Housing and Community
Development (the “Department”), is seeking proposals from qualified contractors to design and
implement an enrollment campaign to increase participation in federal food assistance
programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), through partnership
with Chelsea small businesses.
BACKGROUND
The Chelsea Hunger Network and the Chelsea Eats 2021 Recipient Survey estimated that over
60% of Chelsea residents often do not have consistent access to healthy, nutritious, and
culturally appropriate foods. Food insecurity is linked to health outcomes like obesity and
diabetes that affect a disproportionate number of Chelsea residents. Mass General’s Community
Health Needs Assessment has included food insecurity as a significant concern for the health of
residents.
Federal food assistance programs can increase food security, economic stability, and physical
and mental health for individuals and families who participate, but these programs are
underutilized in Chelsea. A variety of factors contribute to underutilization, including fear and
uncertainty around SNAP effects on immigration processes, complicated eligibility
requirements, unfamiliarity with or misconceptions about the program, misinformation
concerning public charge, and social stigma around receiving food assistance.
As part of a multidimensional strategy to improve food security and health outcomes, the City is
supporting an enrollment campaign to increase awareness of federal food assistance programs,
including SNAP, and to address common misconceptions and barriers to participation in these
programs to ultimately increase enrollment in these programs for Chelsea residents.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
SNAP is a federally funded food assistance program for individuals and households with low
income, individuals over 60 years of age, and individuals with a disability. SNAP is available for
all U.S. citizens who meet the eligibility criteria and for individuals who are not citizens who
meet certain additional requirements. In many cases, one member of a household with
qualifying legal status can receive benefits that extend to the household. In 2021, a statewide
assessment estimated that 54% of all eligible households in Chelsea were not receiving SNAP
benefits.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
The selected contractor will be required to work closely with the Department of Housing and
Community Development to design and implement a communications, outreach, and
enrollment campaign for SNAP and WIC. The contractor selected under this RFP will be
expected to provide the following services:
1. Design a communications and outreach campaign that includes community education,
engagement, and communications strategies to increase enrollment in federal food
assistance programs.
2. Create multilingual and culturally appropriate messaging with consideration for the
uncertainty, fear, public charge and immigration considerations, complexity, and social
stigma around participating in federal food assistance programs. All messaging should be
translated into five commonly spoken languages in Chelsea: Spanish, English, Portuguese,
Arabic, and Haitian Creole.
3. Produce multilingual communication media and outreach materials, including, but not
limited to, high quality video production, social media videos, targeted social media
marketing, flyers, posters, brochures, information session materials, talking points, and
conventional media.
4. Under the direction of and in coordination with the Department, undertake direct
outreach, including, but not limited to, neighborhood canvassing, the hosting of
community events, tabling at planned community events, phone calls, performance of
outgoing calls, responses to incoming calls, and coordination of a variety of
communication methods.
5. Use communication and media strategies to promote messaging to Chelsea residents,
including digital and in-person strategies, with a focus on immigrants including recent
immigrant families with children born in the U.S.
6. In partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development, design a
user-centered process for Chelsea residents to easily understand and access federal food
assistance programs, employing technology to log, track, and manage the intake process.
7. In partnership with community organizations and local enrollment partners, plan and
publicize public informational and enrollment sessions to offer assistance with eligibility
questions and enrollment.
8. Coordinate with other public benefits providers as needed to attain benefits for residents
to boost economic sustainability. Examples may include, but not be limited to,
MassHealth, LIHEAP, rental assistance, subsidized cell phone services, internet service.
9. Coordinate with community organizations, hospitals and health centers, Chelsea public
schools, and EBT retailers in Chelsea to share messaging and increase awareness of SNAP
and HIP benefits.
10. Manage all invoicing and payments, track all expenses, and adjust accordingly to ensure
budget compliance. Financial information shall be furnished to the City on a quarterly
basis, as part of the required quarterly reports.
11. Develop and implement a shop-local campaign to steer federal assistance for
expenditures to local, independently owned small businesses, in coordination with the
Department, Chamber of Commerce, small business owners, and stakeholders.
12. Oversee the provision of navigational assistance to small businesses to usher small
businesses through the necessary processes to secure approval to begin accepting federal
and state benefits. Offer technical assistance to vendors, in coordination with the City’s
Small Business Development Specialist, as it relates to federal food assistance benefits,
such as technical assistance pertaining to the adoption of technology platforms necessary
to accept food assistance benefits, organizing and marketing low-cost, healthy food
products, and/or interfacing with public agencies to reconcile issues.
BENCHMARKS AND REPORTING
Funding awarded by the City of Chelsea is subject to reporting requirements. Generally,
providers should track the number of individuals reached through the campaign, demographic
and socioeconomic characteristics, and quantitative information of participants’ experiences.
Quarterly reports including narratives and beneficiary data is due on the 10th day following the
close of the quarter. Narrative templates will be provided and include prompting questions,
generating insights such as activities conducted, and programmatic strengths, weaknesses, and
success stories. Beneficiary data includes income, race, ethnicity, and disability status.
Monthly updates with City staff via ongoing scheduled meetings will also be a reporting
element. Meetings will include participation from the City’s Project Manager and a program
manager representative. Updates will be narrative and provide an opportunity to brainstorm
community resources and supports.
Data tracking and reporting may include but is not limited to:
- communications key performance indicators such as web traffic, referrals, and social
media shares for campaign-related messaging
- estimated number of individuals and families reached through the campaign
- total number of individuals and families
o (1) interested in applying for federal food assistance,
o (2) successfully enrolled in federal food assistance program(s), and
o (3) interested but not eligible for enrollment in federal food assistance programs
BUDGET
The Department possesses a maximum budget of $100,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act
(ARPA) for the outreach and enrollment campaign. The City will select one (1) contractor for a 12
month contract term, with the option to extend for an additional 12 months.