Courses to Build Connection:

Trainings for staff and key volunteers to build skills and develop programs at food pantries to address the root causes of hunger. Strength-based approaches to support neighbors' economic security

Learn from experts and practitioners through engaging videos and activities!

Developed by More Than Food Consulting and Urban Alliance in partnership with Leah’s Pantry.

Learn how to motivate others to reach their goals. This course builds skills in Motivational Interviewing so you can increase readiness for behavior change with a strengths-based approach.

Part 1 Covers:

  • Overview of Motivational Interviewing

  • Principles of Motivational Interviewing

Part 2 Covers:

  • Skills & practice with Motivational Interviewing

  • Deep dive into four phases of Motivational Interviewing (Engaging, Focusing, Evoking and Planning)

Pricing:

  • $50 per part, per individual. Purchase both parts ($100) for full course access. Group pricing is not available at this time.

Watch the video above for a glimpse into the learner experience!

"This course is very well done - I can think of a lot of opportunities to use the material.” -Change Talk Learner

Want to help connect neighbors to community resources and programs beyond food access? This course will help you develop a warm referral program at a food pantry.

This Course Covers:

  • Building organizational commitment and capacity to offer warm referrals

  • Understanding community resources and creating referral materials

  • Engaging, recruiting and following up with neighbors

Pricing:

  • $100 per individual learner for full course access.

  • $500 for organizations (up to 10 learners in the same organization) for full course access.

  • $1000 for organizations (up to 15 learners in the same organization) for full course access and technical assistance.

Watch our Referral Ready teaser video!

Neighbor Impact

Testimonies from neighbors at participating programs.

“It sounds so cliché, but we are a lot happier. We move through each day lighter. You know where your money is and how much you have and where it is going. We know where every dollar goes from our paychecks.” – A neighbor after participating in a “Coaching with Change Talk” program at a food pantry

“We made it very, very far. If we didn’t have this program, I don’t know where we’d be as a couple.” – A couple after participating in a “Coaching with Change Talk” program at a food pantry

“She was a lot of the motivation. She was like ‘come on, guys, you got this. Make your appointments. She encouraged us to keep going. When we hit a hard spot or got stuck, she still encouraged us to work toward our goals....She is someone who is totally random who believed in us.” – A neighbor after participating in a “Coaching with Change Talk” program at a food pantry

“In our first meeting (with the financial coach) we walked out of there feeling like we had a pay raise.” – A neighbor after participating in a “Coaching with Change Talk” program at a food pantry