The long-anticipated Restaurant Meals Program kicks off Thursday, Feb. 1, allowing homeless, elderly and disabled people in Orange County with CalFresh food stamp benefits to buy hot, prepared foods at participating establishments.
The program, promoted by homeless advocates and approved by the county Board of Supervisors in December 2016, gives more than 26,000 eligible CalFresh client households the ability to buy hot meals with a swipe of their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards.
So far, there are eight approved eateries in Anaheim and Santa Ana: seven Subway sandwich shops and one Indian food restaurant.
Another 56 establishments have applied to the program and are at various stages in the approval process, said Molly Nichelson, public information officer for the county’s Social Services Agency.
Orange County joins eight other California counties, including Los Angeles and San Diego, that have opted in to the Restaurant Meals Program through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
For a list of participating restaurants, go to ssa.ocgov.com/calfresh and navigate to CalFresh on the menu and then Restaurant Meals Program, or call Orange County’s central social resources clearinghouse at 2-1-1.
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