Humana Healthy Horizons in Kentucky Community Engagement Team | Led by Yonbretta Stewart
Food insecurity looks different in every community, but one truth remains the same: families are best supported when organizations work together. Across Kentucky, the Humana Healthy Horizons in Kentucky Community Engagement team, led by Yonbretta Stewart, is building partnerships that strengthen local food pantries, stretch available resources, and help ensure that support reflects the needs, traditions, and lived experiences of the people we serve.
Why Food Access Matters Now
The need for reliable food access continues to grow. Feeding America’s 2026 Map the Meal Gap findings estimate that nearly 48 million people, including 14 million children, experienced food insecurity nationwide in 2024. The same research highlights an especially important challenge for the communities we serve: more than eight in 10 counties with the highest estimated food insecurity rates are rural or located in the South. Nearly 25 million people experiencing food insecurity also had incomes above the threshold for federal nutrition assistance, leaving many families caught between needing help and qualifying for it.
At the same time, household food budgets remain under pressure. USDA data show that across the country, grocery-store food prices in June 2026 were 2.7% higher than a year earlier, while Feeding America notes that food prices have remained stubbornly high as federal supports have declined. For local pantries and community organizations, that combination can mean more families seeking assistance at the same time donations, public resources, and operating dollars must stretch further. It makes collaboration, resource sharing, and targeted community investment more important than ever.\
Making Every Donation Go Further
One of the most practical ways to help solve this issue is through partnerships that allow food pantries to exchange surplus items. At times, one pantry may receive more of a particular product than it can distribute before it expires, while another pantry may have an immediate need for that same item. By helping connect these organizations, our team has supported a simple but powerful solution: share what is available so more food reaches families instead of going unused.
These exchanges do more than move products from one shelf to another. They help pantry partners respond to changing community needs, reduce waste, and make the most of limited donations and funding. They also create stronger relationships among organizations that may serve different regions but share the same mission. A surplus at one location can become timely support for families in another, turning individual resources into a broader community network.
Dr. Kelli Graziano, Regional Vice President of Health Services, says, "Health begins long before a person enters a doctor's office. Consistent access to nutritious, culturally appropriate food is one of the most important factors influencing overall health and well-being. That's why community partnerships like these are so critical. By working alongside trusted local organizations, we can help address barriers that contribute to poor health outcomes, support families in times of need, and create stronger, healthier communities across Kentucky."
Supporting Choice, Dignity, and Culture
Our statewide food pantry support also recognizes that access is about more than having enough food. Food should be familiar, appropriate, and meaningful to the people receiving it. That is why our team has been working with community based organizations to identify options that honor cultural preferences while removing barriers associated with purchasing, storing, and distributing specialized foods.
This approach begins by listening. Local organizations understand their communities, know which options families are most likely to use, and can identify solutions that preserve dignity and choice. By pairing that knowledge with targeted sponsorships and Community Health Worker support, we can help partners develop programs that are both responsive and sustainable.
A Community Centered Partnership with See Forward
A strong example is our partnership with See Forward, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering refugees, immigrants, and displaced communities through mentorship, education, and community leadership programs. Rather than asking See Forward to purchase, store, and distribute food through a traditional pantry model, the partnership provides grocery vouchers that can be used at African grocery stores.
Through the food pantry initiative, See Forward will receive support for grocery vouchers as well as diaper packs, another essential need for families. Additional funding will be used to support Community Health Worker staff time and reporting.
This model gives families greater freedom to select foods that are familiar to them and appropriate for their households. It also reduces the operational burden on See Forward while allowing its staff to focus on the trusted relationships, mentorship, and community support at the heart of its mission.
Extending Support Beyond the Pantry
This work is part of a broader commitment to food security across Humana. Throughout Kentucky and beyond, Humana partners with community organizations that operate food pantries and nutrition programs, helping strengthen the local networks families already know and trust. Humana employees also regularly volunteer in the food-security space through activities such as food packing and distribution, including companywide service efforts with food-bank and hunger-relief partners.
Humana Healthy Horizons in Kentucky members may also have access to food-related value-added benefits and programs during times when nutrition support can be especially important. These include meal support following an inpatient or residential discharge, pregnancy and postpartum support through HumanaBeginnings®, and shelf-stable disaster preparedness meals for eligible members in counties affected by a declared natural disaster. Together, these resources complement community partnerships by helping address food needs at critical moments in a member’s health journey.
Building a Stronger Statewide Network
The work with See Forward reflects the larger purpose of our statewide pantry initiative: to support local organizations in ways that make sense for the communities they know best. In one area, that may mean connecting pantries so surplus items can be shared. In another, it may mean sponsoring culturally appropriate grocery options or helping cover the staff time required to manage and report on a program effectively.
There is no single solution to food insecurity. Meaningful progress comes from listening, adapting, and investing in partnerships that already have the trust of their communities. By connecting resources, supporting local expertise, and creating room for dignity and choice, our team is helping build a stronger and more responsive network of support across the state.
When community organizations are equipped to collaborate, food and other essential items can go farther, and families can receive support that feels not only accessible, but welcoming and relevant. That is the impact of partnership: stronger pantries, stronger organizations, and stronger communities.
Sources for updated data and program information: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2026 (July 2026); USDA Economic Research Service, Food Price Outlook (June 2026 data); Humana Healthy Horizons in Kentucky 2026 Extra Programs and Services; HumanaBeginnings; Humana Community Day 2026.
