August SNAC Spotlight: Michelle Shippy, Marion County Public Health Department

Michelle Shippy (mshippy@marionhealth.org) works with the Marion County Public Health Department, which is the municipal organization in Marion County.

Describe your organization and role.

My role is the Nutrition Incentive Program Director in the Chronic Disease Department at the Marion County Public Health Department. We primarily focus on addressing policy, systems, and environmental change work to address chronic disease in Marion County.

My position is funded through the CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant that we were awarded in 2018. We are in the 5th year of that project and are hopeful that we get awarded another five years. My role within the REACH project is to build capacity around nutrition incentive programs, which involved building out a County-wide Produce Prescription program and to improve systems and expand programming for the Fresh Bucks program (Marion County Double Up program). Over these last 5 years, we have succeeded in these goals. Moving forward, my goal is to learn more about how policies like Medicaid reimbursements for Produce Prescription programs can aid in program sustainability and continue to stay involved in the statewide expansion of Double Up Indiana.

What are projects and/or partnerships that have been impactful in the work you do?

Marion County Produce Prescription Program– Our current partners include Eskenazi Health, Community Health Network, and the Jane Pauley Health Center who identify and recruit participants of the Produce Prescription program. Participants complete nutrition education classes through the healthcare system and then we mail out Healthy Savings incentive cards to those participants to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at Kroger, Walmart, and the five Safeway’s in Indianapolis. This is a 12-month program and funds are loaded onto the Healthy Savings card at the beginning of each month. We work with third-party processors to implement the Healthy Savings cards. Through our USDA GusNIP funding, we also have a partnership with Hoosier Harvest Market that allows participants the opportunity to choose weekly at home deliveries of fresh local produce boxes in place of the cards, which helps address those barriers of getting to the stores. We also provide all the evaluation support.

Fresh Bucks Program– This is our SNAP matching, Double Up program in Marion County. For every dollar that is spent on SNAP eligible food items, program participants receive an additional dollar to spend on fresh produce. We partner with our farmers markets and Safeway Food Stores in Indianapolis to implement the Fresh Buck program. We have moved to more uniform branding to align with statewide efforts for Double Up Indiana with the goal of supporting programming throughout Central Indiana. If you have questions about Double Up programming, we are more than happy to talk more!

What is the most interesting part of your role?

The most interesting part of my role is being involved in the ever-changing processes of point-of-sale systems involved with our programs. As technology advances, we are seeing many nutrition incentive programs move to digital platforms and electronic transactions. This new learning curve is challenging at times, but it is fun knowledge to have. Our transition to electronic transactions has allowed for simplicity with our reporting and evaluation. It has also saved us on staff time because we don’t have to count paper vouchers and tokens. Contributing to the research and writing manuscripts related to both programs allows us to be part of a bigger movement, which is exciting.

What is the “why” behind what you do?

I’ve worked in public health for 15 years and I have a passion for helping people. I have heard and seen firsthand how a lack of food access affects people by being a part of listening sessions, partaking in focus groups, completing assessments/surveys, and driving around neighborhoods observing. This helps put the work into perspective. Not only do we impact individuals, but also their entire families. Seeing the results of these programs and talking with participants further strengthens my belief that everyone should have the opportunity to eat good nutritious food which includes affordable access to fruits and vegetables, which is the foundation for preventing and managing chronic diseases.

Is there anything else SNAC members should know?

The relationships that we build overtime have a lasting impact on the lives of our community members. My public health journey started in WIC and I remember a woman who I helped to breastfeed her child. We built a relationship over time and I got to see her child grow. After I left my position in WIC, I saw that same woman at a health fair years later and her daughter was then maybe 7 years old. We hugged when we saw each other and talked more. That experience was so surreal, and it is a reminder that even though this work is challenging, you never know who you are going to meet and whose life you are going to impact. Those glimpses of success and connection make it all worth it!