Serving Insights, known at NTFB as Neighbor Connect, simplifies the intake process while collecting data to improve our service to those facing hunger.

At the Salvation Army of North Texas’ Carr P. Collins Social Service Center, it takes just seconds for staff and volunteers to find a neighbors’ information in their system.

Once their profile is pulled up on an iPad, they have food loaded into their trunk and they’re on their way. The North Texas Food Bank partner has been using Feeding America’s Service Insights on MealConnect system, known at NTFB as Neighbor Connect, for nearly two years and staff say the program has made food distributions more efficient.

“It’s very effective and it’s sped up the process,” says Broderick Callaway, the case worker community liaison who oversees the pantry.

Before, Broderick says they were writing every neighbor’s information down and then entering it into their computer system after the food distribution had finished. Now, they spend five to 10 minutes with a neighbor during their first visit, and after that can quickly pull up their information and provide them with the food they need.

The Salvation Army is one of 45 partner agencies now using Service Insights, which is a free online app meant to simplify the intake process and allow everyone to better serve neighbors. Along with making intake quicker, the app gathers data that allows NTFB and its partners to know who we’re serving and how we might better serve them, says Garven Burton, NTFB Service Insights Specialist.

“You’re learning more about your neighbor and their household members,” Garven says.

With that knowledge, partners are equipped to refer people to other services that might support them on their path to self-sufficiency. If an individual visiting a pantry has diabetes, for example, the pantry can use that information to not only provide them with nutritious food but also referrals or information that might help them manage their condition. If Service Insights finds the neighbor is a veteran, the pantry may be able to refer them to additional support systems.

“I always say that food is a Band-Aid, it’s just a start,” Garven says. “For you to come to the pantry, there are other things affecting you.”

Agencies using the Service Insights app are provided with a one-time grant from NTFB that helps them cover the cost of iPads and equipment needed to use the app. Once a neighbor has registered, they need only show a QR code or their ID to be pulled up in the system on subsequent visits.

Garven says by 2028, NTFB is aiming to have all of its partners either using Service Insights or using their own system to ask the same questions of neighbors as Service. All information collected is kept confidential and secure, and reports on neighbors served never include names, addresses or personal information.

At the Salvation Army, staff and volunteers say it not only helps them to know more about who they’re serving, it also allows them build repour with neighbors.

“I love it. It’s a great, easy way for us to have our neighbors’ information in the system, and it helps us build relationships because they see that we know them,” says Adrian Gayden, education coordinator.

Agencies interested in adding Service Insights can learn more here.