Respected Long Beach mutual aid organization working to alleviate food insecurity enters formal affiliation with AIDS Healthcare Foundation and its ‘Food for Health’ program

Long Beach Community Table (LBCT) and AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) have entered into a formal affiliation that will allow LBCT to continue expanding its work addressing food insecurity and building community.

Long Beach Community Table is a mutual aid organization that nourishes those who are struggling and provides resources that allow people to mutually sustain each other. AHF is a global nonprofit organization and the largest provider of HIV/AIDS care in the U.S. with a mission to provide cutting-edge medicine and advocacy, regardless of ability to pay. The two organizations signed their agreement late last week.

“We are excited and honored to affiliate and partner with AIDS Healthcare Foundation,” said Kristin Cox, Executive Director of Long Beach Community Table. “Long Beach Community Table and AHF each recognize the two organizations provide complementary services and can take a unified approach to ensuring that people facing food insecurity will continue to receive the services they need.”

“It is a privilege to welcome and partner with Long Beach Community Table, an organization embedded in the community that has been doing such important work alleviating food insecurity for so many years,” said Whitney Engeran-Cordova, Vice President of Public Health Programs at AHF. “In August 2021, in response to the ongoing food crisis driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, AHF launched its Food for Health program in Los Angeles, utilizing innovative strategies to alleviate hunger by repairing and rebuilding local communities. We see the critical work that LBCT has been doing before and alongside us and are honored to be able to help them continue.”

As part of the affiliation agreement, AHF will cover a significant portion of LBCT’s operating costs, including rent, utilities, payroll, benefits, and program development, allowing the Long Beach food cooperative to continue and expand its mission serving individuals and families in Long Beach and the South Bay.

Long Beach Community Table is AHF’s 13^th affiliate and joins a network of affiliate organizations in eight states across the country. Other AHF affiliates—many which have operated in their communities for decades—provide a variety of services such as HIV/AIDS care and prevention, women’s health care, nutrition, and housing. Many target regularly overlooked and underserved populations and communities.

California has an undeniable food crisis.

According to statistics from the California Department of Public Health, 40% of low-income adults in California are unable to afford enough food. One in four California children doesn’t have enough food, and more than seven million Californians were eligible for CalFresh, but approximately two and a half million people did not participate.

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Long Beach Community Table and AHF each recognize the two organizations provide complementary services and can take a unified approach to ensure that people facing food insecurity will continue to receive the services they need.