Community-academic partnerships to promote health literacy and address social needs among low-income families during COVID-19

Haidar, Amier; Khoei, Amelia; Alex, Saira; Blick, Christina; Lopez, Elyse; Wendt, Sydney; Ghanta, Ramesh; Almohamad, Maha; Cousins, Stefanie; Noyola, Jacqueline; Tien, Jacqueline; Markham, Christine; Sharma, Shreela V.

Brighter Bites is a school-based health promotion program that delivers fresh produce and nutrition education to low-income children and their families across six cities in the U.S. This paper provides a perspective on how, despite COVID-19-related school closures, Brighter Bites pivoted rapidly to collaborate with medical and public health institutions to improve health and food literacy among their families. Through these partnerships, Brighter Bites was able to rapidly provide accurate, evidence-based information related to COVID-19 and other social needs, including food, housing, transportation, and access to healthcare, to help fill a needed gap in vulnerable communities.