Asian American Health Coalition - dba HOPE Clinic

HOPE Clinic’s Bite of HOPE program is a collaborative teaching kitchen program whose goal is to create healthier communities in Houston and promote economic development.

By having small restaurant businesses embrace their role in health, businesses will 1) mitigate the rise of obesity, diabetes, liver disease and improve diet quality and 2) reignite and implement strategies that will allow them to increase profit margins and opt for scalability. Through one-on-one technical assistance sessions, the program  enhances access to healthy food while having businesses learn about 1) access to finance 2) sourcing 2) menu development and packaging 3) marketing and branding 4) nutrition and  food safety and 5) the future of food and restaurant trends.

Problem 1

There are more than 490,000 independent restaurants operating in the U.S. (1). Founders of small restaurants in underserved communities usually have no formal entrepreneurial or culinary training. During the first two years of COVID-19, as people were encouraged to stay home hoping to flatten the curve of the outbreak, many restaurants experienced a revenue collapse while many others were forced to close. The National Restaurant Association estimates that more than 8 million restaurant employees were laid off. Despite of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) established by the American Rescue Plan Act designed to help restaurants keep their doors open, many small restaurants, business are still struggling.

 Problem 2

54 million Americans live in communities without access to healthy affordable food (2).  Access to nutritious and affordable food is a key factor in improving health outcomes, combating diet-related disease and creating healthy communities. Gaining access to healthy and affordable food, however, can be challenge for residents because of financial constraints and the lack of food retailers.

Restaurants are a stronghold of local communities. While they generate job growth, they are also an impactful gathering place for communities being the lifeblood of regional food culture.  Community members rely on their restaurants to provide them with good food at a reasonable cost.

1. https://pages.chd-expert.com/i...
2. https://www.fastcompany.com/90613597/54-4-million-americans-dont-have-access-to-healthy-food-thats-a-design-problem

The small restaurant solution connects small restaurant business owners with experienced mentors and advisors giving them access to all the tools they need to scale. During the program, business owners develop a business plan, work on their marketing strategy, learn about different sourcing options/procurement, restaurant tendencies, health safety and nutrition. Business owners have access to technical support through one-on-one coaching with Bite of HOPE chef, the BakerRipley Small Business program experts and industry experts and mentors.

The program provides support not only to business owners, but also to restaurant and administrative staff to improve job performance. Business owners are also connected with financial institutions that can help them access the required capital to scale.

The program is working with underserved and are medically underserved populations. The solution targets 1) underserved communities where health disparities are a major and challenging public health problem, and 2) small restaurants located in underserved communities. Population in these areas include minorities and immigrants with low literacy.

The population in the areas where this program is being implemented faces huge barriers that make it difficult to access health care and healthy food. Restaurants in these areas are less likely to offer healthy food options for multiple reasons, including the fact that they and are competing with fast-food chains that have found their way to low-income neighborhoods. It is very hard for small restaurants in these communities to stay in business and scale.

The Bite of HOPE program onboarded 40 small businesses in a pilot program. During a 60-day program, participants attended multiple workshops with industry experts and were provided with all the required tools to improve their business. All participants were requested to submit a program evaluation making sure that needs of small restaurants owners were addressed. The program’s health component was evaluated by MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results from this evaluation show that businesses are eager to embrace health into their business not only because of the social component, but because this will allow them to scale their business.

The program serves a very diverse community including White, Hispanics, Black/African American and Asian. Program participants are mostly women, immigrants who have a median household income of $37,000.

Texas

HOPE Clinic’s mission is to provide quality healthcare without any prejudice to all people of grater Houston in a culturally and linguistically competent manner.

Even though the organization’s mission is not to help launch or sustain small businesses, its mission aligns with the social determinants of health (SDH) which evokes factors such as neighborhoods and accessibility of healthful foods which can influence a person’s health.  

HOPE Clinic’s Bite of HOPE program was created to address the social determinants and the major impact on health outcomes, especially for the most vulnerable populations. By creating a program to help sustain small food businesses, the program is creating access to food – nutritious food specifically. This has a direct impact on a patient’s wellbeing.

HOPE Clinic has embraced the challenge of health equity and believes that healthcare goes beyond the four walls of a clinic. Bite of HOPE’s work with small restaurant businesses is helping bring healthy food to underserved communities. This is regarded as a key social determinant of health as it has a direct impact on a person’s health.

Outcomes:

By supporting small restaurant businesses and having them be economically viable, the program is fostering job growth, supporting local agriculture and keeping funds in the community. Small restaurants in underserved communities that embrace the healthy food initiative are creating healthier community members.

Activities:  

In a month-long program and with the participation of industry experts, mentors and coaches, participants learn about successful business operations, access to funding, packaging, branding and design, as well as marketing. The program gives participants an opportunity to access technical assistance through one-on-one coaching with industry experts.

Additionally, participants meet with Bite of HOPE chef to review recipes, menus, menu ingredients, and sourcing options. Through this coaching, participants are able to improve business operations, transform recipes making them healthier without changing the essence and embrace sustainability.

Upon the completion of the program, participating restaurants are part of a the program  network and continue to receive support.  

Beneficiaries:

The beneficiaries of the program are the participating small restaurants, HOPE Clinic’s  patients and the broader community.

Time and resources: Bite of HOPE is an established HOPE Clinic program. Program is provided free of charge to participating restaurants.

Potential for impact: The project has the potential to be transformative in its impact and improve sustainability and longevity for small restaurant businesses and their ecosystems, as well as improve patient health outcomes.

Third-party research, findings from a pilot or impact evaluation:

MD Anderson Cancer Center led a program assessment evaluation to determine the impact the program had from the perspective of small food business participants. A staff survey was also used to examine the program’s awareness, willingness and likelihood and implementation feedback.

Number currently being served: 40 small food businesses

Number serving in one year: 80 small restaurant businesses 

Number serving in five years: 400 small food businesses 

The solution is being implemented in two underserved Houston communities: Alief and Aldine.

Both communities have high crime, and in some areas are still experimenting limited county services, aging infrastructure and inadequate utilities.  Many of its residents were born outside of the country. Residents are mainly Hispanic and Asian. The areas have a high unemployment rate and are recognized as low income, blue collar communities with a declining job base.

Community members are strongly vested in the community. Houses of worship, local management district offices, community organizations, school district and local businesses tend to work well together in support of their district.  

HOPE Clinic has been working with the Aldine and Alief communities for several years.  The organization has 3 health centers in Alief and one in East Aldine. HOPE Clinic works closely with community organizations, schools, and local businesses to better serve the community. To give an example, HOPE Clinic hosts back-to-school health fairs for families where students are given free back packs and are connected to community resources as they prepare for the school year..

In the Aldine area, HOPE Clinic is located inside the BakerRipley Community Center. BakerRipley is the largest charitable organization in Texas and hosts a network of over 70 services sites that helps more than half a million people each year. The organization provides resources, education, and connection by working with its neighbors side by side.

The Bite of HOPE program has a partnership with BakerRipley’s Small Business Program that offers a free business accelerator program to small businesses in multiple languages. This program has been supporting the community for many years generating multiple success stories with which the community is very familiar.

Bite of HOPE and BakerRipley’s Small Business Program partner with community organizations that are well trusted in the community. The program works closely with the different precinct offices, Management District offices, School Districts and others.

Business owners are very familiar with BakerRipley’s Small Business Program. The program host an annual Spanish Pitch Competition which has great reach.

HOPE Clinic has a strong outreach team that engages regularly with the community connecting them to educational resources and is making sure that everyone has access to health care. Meeting with the community gives us an opportunity to understand their needs and helps us better serve them.   

Bite of HOPE is also part of the Catalyzing Communities to Promote Child Health Equity: Healthy Living Matters in East Aldine program led by Tufts University.

The Bite of HOPE solutions impact goals for the next year and next five years is to contribute to the transformation of the Aldine and Alief areas by supporting small restaurant businesses that are contributing to the areas economy and are working on improving the health of its community members.  

Bite of HOPE would like to see this program replicated in underserved communities in different states and around the world and take the lead in the creation of a mass media campaign that will educate the general public on the importance of healthy eating and supporting their neighborhood small restaurant.

Tabbie Saenz has an economic and business background and has been working with small businesses, startups and non-profits for over 15 years. With HelloAlice, the African Entrepreneurship Awards Program and the Founder Institute, she helped entrepreneurs from around the world scale their businesses by connecting them to mentors, strategic partners, and funding opportunities. With BakerRipley’s Entrepreneurship Program where she worked hand in hand with Hispanic founders and developed the first Spanish speaking pitch competition in Houston. With the Houston Community College Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives, she created MicroUS - the first accelerator for micro-businesses, to help individuals reimagine their jobs by helping them build other streams of income and help jump-start the economy amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Chef Chris Lott is a military veteran turned chef. He spent thirteen years in the United States Army. As a sergeant, he mentored and provided essential healthcare administration training to junior soldiers. Upon leaving the Army, he obtained a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, Texas.

Lott has earned his stripes both in the Army and in the culinary field and is committed to reducing diet-related health inequities and disease outcomes in Houston. He believes that nutritious meals are what allows Soldiers, children, and everyone to do their job well and accomplish their mission. 

Being part of a partnership with Truist Foundatin and MIT Solve will give this program an opportunity to scale and also will provide it with great visibility - which is crucial to the program’s end goal. The health burden associated with unhealthy eating needs to be addressed not only in the city of Houston, but worldwide. If we are able to replicate this program around the world then we would be not only helping local neighborhoods, communities and economies, but will also be helping people stay healthy.

1. Partnership with local media will allow for program and all mentors to be highlight. The end goal is to have all media outlets in Houston embrace a mass campaign around the program and the importance of healthy eating.

2. Because the program is still in its initial phase, the program is not self-sustainable. Partnerships with possible funding organizations is key at this stage in order to keep the program accessible to everyone.

3. Mentorship by industry experts is an important component of the program. Mentors don’t only share their expertise, but are an important source of inspirations to founders. Creating partnerships with successful restaurant owners that could mentor participating businesses has proven to be very successful

Partnership with local media will allow for program and all mentors to be highlight. The end goal is to have all media outlets in Houston embrace a mass campaign around the program and the importance of healthy eating.

Because the program is still in its initial phase, the program is not self-sustainable. Partnerships with possible funding organizations is key at this stage in order to keep the program accessible to everyone.

Mentorship by industry experts is an important component of the program. Mentors don’t only share their expertise, but are an important source of inspirations to founders. Creating partnerships with successful restaurant owners that could mentor participating businesses has proven to be very successful