$1 = 4 Meals

"In Ohio and across the nation, navigator groups provide a variety of services, including providing outreach to people about how to obtain health coverage, helping them decide which insurance plans best meet their needs, and getting them signed up. Federal regulators had invited the Ohio Association of Foodbanks to apply for a $1.7 million grant. Now, they've been given two weeks to come up with a revised budget and plan for about a quarter of their annual spending."

Navigator grantees like the Ohio Association of Foodbanks have been left without answers or information, with no expectation about when grant contracts or funding amounts would be issued. "Our navigators are doing yeoman's work. Now, we've had to inform these nonprofits that we have no information, no official guidance, no contract and no funding. On top of that, consumers across Ohio will likely have nowhere to turn, and we will lose the momentum we've gained approaching the new open enrollment period. This is an unimaginable and heartbreaking situation. It's unconscionable."

"While the prevalence of food insecurity remains higher than the national average, we have made some modest progress toward increased food security for vulnerable people in our state. It's a small change, and not a statistically significant one. There's much work to do, and to keep doing. But we are encouraged that Ohioans are starting to realize small improvements in their ability to feed themselves and their families."