The Massachusetts Food Access project, based out of the Rappaport Institute at the Harvard Kennedy School, interviewed 60 families each week from May through August 2020 to learn about the challenges they are facing during the COVID-19 crisis.
MFAC aims to improve the delivery of services and discover stories that motivate governments & communities to take action.
About the Project
We are conducting weekly in depth qualitative telephone interviews with 60 Massachusetts households to learn about the challenges they are facing during the crisis and how these challenges are evolving week to week.
30 of the households were referred to us by food pantries and other community-based organizations. The other 30 are being recruited through referrals from the original 30 sample members (a “snowball” approach).
Our goal is to improve policymaking during the crisis by elevating the voices and insights of the people whom government programs and community organizations are trying to assist. We aim to provide tactical insights that can lead to immediate adjustments in program operations as well as accounts of unmet need that can motivate policy action.
Our Team
Jeffrey Liebman is the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.
Kathryn Carlson - Executive Director, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston
Eliza Novick - Project Manager, Shah Family Foundation
Pamela Portocarrero - Program Coordinator, Taubman Center for State and Local Government
Eli Berk-Rauch - MPP Student, HKS and Research & Policy Analyst
Mayumi Cornejo - MPP Student, HKS and Research & Policy Analyst
Ancito Etienne - MPP Student, HKS and Research & Policy Analyst
Melissa-Ann Gillies - MPP Student, HKS and Research & Policy Analyst
Gabriela Lastres - MPP Student, HKS and Research & Policy Analyst
Brooke Wages - MPP Student, HKS and Research & Policy Analyst