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Nutrition incentives and produce prescription programs increase buying power for low-income individuals, enabling them to purchase more healthy foods. With recent federal budget cuts to nutrition programs, these programs are a bright spot. Federal funding for these programs has remained steady, and nonprofits continue to expand their reach across New York as food insecurity rates continue to climb. One program, Double Up Food Bucks New York (DUFBNY), is currently on pace to match $4.2 million in SNAP purchases across New York State, four times more than last year.

Join experts as they discuss leveraging state nutrition incentive programs to mitigate food insecurity, with a focus on impact in under-resourced and rural communities across New York. Speakers will also discuss key findings from a recent statewide landscape assessment on nutrition incentives and produce programs conducted by Field & Fork Network and New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).

Update: This conversation will also cover how the ongoing government shutdown impacts nutrition incentive programs and what it means if people do not receive their SNAP benefits in November.

Speakers:

• Jake Kowal, Double Up Food Bucks New York Manager, Field & Fork Network
• Jeff Cady, Vice President of Produce & Floral, Northeast Shared Services
• Ishani Choksi, MD, Fellow, New York State Department of Health

Webinar Date and Time: 
Thursday, October 30, 2025
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Register here.

Older adults are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Decreased mobility, chronic health conditions, weakened immune systems, and limited access to resources mean that extreme heat, severe storms, and other climate-related disasters disproportionately threaten older populations. Across the past two decades, older adults have consistently accounted for 50–100% of deaths during climate-related disasters.

Join the New York Climate and Aging Action Network (NY-CAAN) for a webinar examining the intersection of aging and climate resilience. Speakers will share updates on the NY-CAAN initiative and outline what advocacy looks like at the policy, community, and individual levels. Participants will also have an opportunity to reflect on what they are seeing in their own communities and explore ways to contribute to collective action that strengthens protections for older adults.

Speakers:

• Allison Nickerson, Executive Director, LiveOn NY
• Karl Pillemer, D., Hazel E. Reed Professor of Human Development, Cornell University; Professor of Gerontology in Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine
• Chloe Jane Shores, Associate Director, Cornell Initiative for Research on Climate and Aging, Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medicine

Webinar Date and Time: 

Thursday, September 25, 2025

1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

Register here.

One in three Americans knows someone who has died of a drug overdose. While mortality rates have decreased in recent years, an estimated 4,500 New Yorkers lost their lives to a preventable overdose in 2024. Historically, New York has been at the forefront of adopting innovative public health strategies, including pioneering harm reduction approaches. The recent federal cuts to Medicaid and community health services pose a threat to New York State’s progress in reducing overdose deaths.

Join the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and the National Black Harm Reduction Network (NBHRN) for a preview of DPA’s report on the first three years of New York’s opioid settlement funds – a multibillion-dollar fund earmarked to address the overdose crisis. Access to opioid settlement funds is critical to ensure individuals with the highest need continue to receive life-saving services. This webinar will dive into current data on the overdose crisis in New York, how opioid settlement funds have been spent, and what lawmakers and community members can do to ensure the most effective use of the funds.

Speakers:

• Tracie M. Gardner, Executive Director, National Black Harm Reduction Network
• Toni Smith, Director of New York State, Drug Policy Alliance
• Sophia Silao, Program Officer,  New York Health Foundation

Webinar Date and Time: 

Monday, August 25, 2025

1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

Timely, publicly available data are essential for identifying health disparities, informing policy, and guiding resources where they’re needed most. But critical data sources are increasingly at risk due to funding cuts, access restrictions, and delays.

Join the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) for a conversation on the importance of protecting public health data.

The event will feature NYHealth’s newly updated Care Across Communities Dashboard, a ZIP code-level tool that provides insights into primary care access, preventive care, health outcomes, and community demographics across New York State. Panelists will discuss how local data can drive more equitable policy and practice—and what happens when those data sources are threatened.

Speakers:

• Anna Popinchalk, Director of Research & Evaluation, Primary Care Development Corporation
• Colin Planalp, Senior Research Fellow, State Health Access Data Assistance Center
• Mary Ford, Director of Policy and Research,  New York Health Foundation
• Camille Okonkwo, Policy and Research Associate,  New York Health Foundation

Webinar Date and Time: 

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.