Voices of Tomorrow (VOT) has started implementing its latest program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), to ensure children being cared for by our network of providers have access to good quality, nutritious meals. CACFP is a USDA-funded childhood nutrition program for qualifying daycare homes who meet the requirements set by the state. It plays a vital role in making nutritious food more accessible to low-income children, families, and providers. By providing children with nutritious and well-balanced meals, we hope to nourish their young minds and continue to help them flourish.

Through this program, dedicated caregivers personally invest in providing nourishing meals and snacks to the children under their care. If they are eligible and if the meals align with the prescribed nutritional guidelines, the CACFP steps in to reimburse providers for two meals and one snack per child on a daily basis. The program is targeted toward children under the age of 12 and homeless youth up to the age of 18. It helps improve the quality of daycare homes by making well-balanced meals more affordable, and it allows providers to supply the children in their care with high quality nutritious meals as well as get reimbursed for related expenses.

Najib Hassan, VOT’s CACFP program administrator and monitoring specialist, oversees the verification of eligibility criteria to determine whether daycare homes qualify for program enrollment.

“Our primary focus is ensuring the providers voices are being heard within this program,” he said. “Having someone who understands you is key, so sharing the same culture and background makes it more comfortable for them to voice their concerns.”

Families with limited financial means also benefit from the program, as it equips their children with the essential resources required for healthy growth and the cultivation of positive habits. By focusing on children under 12 and extending support to homeless youth up to 18, the program touches on a critical period of growth and development.

One of VOT’s core values is being culturally responsive, which makes the implementation of this new program not just fitting but essential. CACFP promotes fairness, community involvement, and cultural understanding to ensure that everyone has a positive and meaningful experience. There are other organizations that sponsor this program, but many of VOT’s providers are East Africans and English is not their first language. That’s where VOT steps in to provide language support and make a culturally responsive program. As an organization deeply intertwined with the community, introducing this program is a natural progression, as it is a vital resource to many providers and families, we are already dedicated to assisting.

In embracing the CACFP, Voices of Tomorrow is not only introducing a new initiative but also upholding the commitment to fostering holistic growth within our communities. As CACFP emerges as a promising childhood nutritional program, it offers a glimpse of our organization’s dedication to quality, equity, and cultural responsiveness in action.

Through the thoughtful leadership of Najib Hassan, CACFP embodies VOT’s values of inclusivity and understanding, reaffirming that the pathway to a more promising tomorrow begins with nourishing the voices of today.