Just Harvest

Just Harvest educates, empowers and mobilizes people to eliminate hunger, poverty, and economic injustice in our communities by influencing public policy, engaging in advocacy, and connecting people to public benefits.

Our Program Areas:

ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE:

We advocate for policies at the federal, state, county, and local level that alleviate hunger and poverty in our region. Issues that we work on include: Protecting nutrition programs such as SNAP, fair tax policies, and addressing food deserts.

EMPOWERING THE COMMUNITY:

We believe people should have the opportunity to influence policies that impact their lives, and a key component to our success in creating change has been engaging community members in our efforts at all levels. We also worked to debunk myths about poverty and hunger through media appearances, social media and blogging, poverty simulations at local schools and universities, and speaking engagements.

CONNECTING PEOPLE TO BENEFITS:

SNAP Makes a Difference: SNAP is the critical anti-hunger and anti-poverty safety net benefit, helping 1.8 million Pennsylvanians and 47 million nationwide. For 7 years, Just Harvest has provided assistance to help hundreds of low-income households apply for benefits.

Case Advocacy: We advocate for the fair treatment of clients as they navigate safety-net bureaucracies. Whether it is a food stamp participant who has been denied benefits unfairly, or a mother on welfare seeking a work exemption because of illness, we are here to help clients get what they need.

Fresh Access: The Fresh Access program fights hunger by improving access to nutritious food at farmers markets across the Pittsburgh area. At these markets, our kiosk allows customers to use food stamps to purchase a variety of fresh produce, baked goods, meat and dairy products.

Money in Your Pocket Tax Campaign: As a lead partner in the United Way of Allegheny County’s Money in Your Pocket Coalition - Just Harvest provides free, IRS-certified income tax preparation for low-income tax clients at four Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Sites in Allegheny County. Launched in 2003, Just Harvest’s free tax preparation service is now one of the largest in the entire state.