Asian Food Shelf
CAPI’s food shelf is located in the Sabathani Community Center (310 East 38th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55409), approximately 5 miles from CAPI’s East Lake Street headquarters. It is the state’s only Asian specific foodshelf and serves an average of 2,000 low income individuals (approximately 350 families) each month.
While it is important to provide culturally appropriate food, CAPI’s food shelf is more than a food distribution program for qualified low-income Southeast Asians. By responding to the need for “linguistic accessibility”-- no other food shelf in the Twin Cities is managed by Hmong-speaking staff-- CAPI’s food shelf serves as a gateway to a myriad of self-sufficiency services offered by CAPI and other organizations. Upon conducting an eligibility intake typically in Hmong language with the head of household, CAPI’s foodshelf staff identifies resources that help families connect, integrate, and become increasingly self-sufficient. Ultimately, we hope to eliminate participants’ dependence on emergency food.
The majority of food shelf participants, who no longer require food shelf assistance, came to the food shelf by way of a referral from a program that addressed the underlying reasons for needing emergency food, such as; chronic unemployment, elders without retirement income or social security benefits, recent divorce, or mental illness. In addition to making numerous internal referrals, the food shelf Coordinators also connect clients to many different agencies and programs that provide services not offered by CAPI, including: ELL classes, health care clinics, tax-assistance, earned income tax credits, WIC, access to food stamps, and housing assistance agencies. CAPI’s food shelf has thus become the initial point of entry into the organization for as many as 50% of the clients we serve each year.
To enroll in the food shelf for monthly support please call CAPI and ask to speak to the Food Shelf Coordinator. In order to receive emergency food support call the Emergency Food Shelf Network and they will refer you to a food shelf.
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