With upcoming changes to Medicaid eligibility requirements taking effect by the end of 2026, and SNAP requirements beginning as early as November 2025, Care for Friends has designed and begun implementing a structured volunteer program that supports individuals in meeting their work-related eligibility criteria while providing meaningful service to the community. This program will likely have the added benefit of preventing homelessness, as additional food and medical costs increases the risk of eviction.

Program Concept:

This program targets individuals at risk of losing their SNAP and Medicaid benefits due to being unable to meet the updated work and/or volunteer requirements.

Rather than operating this program solely through CFF, the intent is to develop the framework and infrastructure to collaborate with other key community partners in order to scale and increase the impact of the program’s efforts. Coalitions can use the toolkit and implement the program within their networks. Care for Friends gives permission to remove their logo on the PowerPoint and replace with other logos to ensure it’s familiar to the communities in which people work.   

Program structure:

Participants can sign up for volunteer opportunities am that will ensure they can complete required work/volunteer hours within one organization, or across multiple ones. As an example, a volunteer could log 15 hours with Organization “A”, 10 hours with another nearby organization, and so on, making it feasible for participants to reach their 80-hour work/volunteer/training requirement through geographically-convenient, and mission-aligned options.

On the other hand, agencies providing volunteer opportunities will post only their volunteering needs, from which participants will have the ability to choose placements based on location and type of volunteer work, increasing engagement and retention. 

Overall, this model is a win-win: individuals maintain their critical benefits, and organizations gain a reliable, mission-aligned volunteer base.