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  • Hunger in D.C.
    • Who Goes Hungry?
    • Consequences of Hunger and Poverty
  • Federal Nutrition Programs
    • School Breakfast Program (SBP)
      • Benefits of School Breakfast
      • National School Breakfast Week
      • D.C. School Meals Report
        • Older Adults
        • National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
          • D.C. School Meals Report
          • National School Lunch Week
        • P-EBT
        • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
        • Afterschool Meals
          • Who Serves Afterschool Meals?
        • Summer Meals (SFSP)
          • Communications Toolkit: D.C. Summer Meals Program
          • Find Summer Meals Sites
          • Become a Summer Meals Site or Sponsor
        • Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
        • WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children)
  • Training & Outreach
    • Outreach
  • Get Help
    • COVID-19 Food Resources and Updates
  • Food Policies
    • COVID-19 Policy Updates and Program Guidance
    • Healthy Students Amendment Act
    • WIC Expansion Act
    • Healthy Parks Amendment Act
    • Healthy Schools Act
    • Healthy Tots Act
    • Grocery Access
    • DC Food Policy Council
    • Testimony
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Meet the Team
    • Our Supporters
    • Our Partners
    • Jobs and Internships
    • Contact Us
  • Newsroom
    • Updates and Announcements
    • News Releases
    • In the News
    • Story Ideas
    • Testimony
    • Request an Interview
  • Take Action
    • Become a Volunteer
    • Contact D.C. Elected Officials
    • Donate
    • Share Your Story
  • Apply for SNAP

Meet the Team

  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Meet the Team
    • Our Supporters
    • Jobs and Internships
    • Our Partners
    • Contact Us
    • Nondiscrimination Statement
Home / About Us / Meet the Team

LaMonika Jones, Interim Director
ljones@dchunger.org

Martha Assefa, Anti-Hunger Associate
massefa@dchunger.org

Blake Turpin, Anti-Hunger Program Associate
bturpin@dchunger.org


LaMonika Jones

LaMonika joined D.C. Hunger Solutions, an initiative of FRAC in September 2021 as the Anti-Hunger Program Analyst – Child Nutrition Programs. In this role, she is responsible for working to increase participation and improve benefits in the child nutrition programs (WIC; school meals; summer, after school and child care meals) in the District of Columbia through advocacy, research, coalition-building, outreach, technical assistance, public education and program monitoring.

Previously, LaMonika served as the Procurement and Purchasing Compliance Officer with Georgia Dept. of Early Care and Learning working within the Nutrition Services Division providing technical assistance and monitoring oversight for child nutrition program providers participating in Child and Adult Food Care Program and Summer Food Service Program. She also served as a Steering Committee member of the Georgia Farm to Early Care and Education Coalition focusing on the use of local food systems in early child care and K-12.

LaMonika has a B.A. in Political Science and Communication from Oakland University, and a M.Ed. in Urban Teacher Leadership from Georgia State University. She is currently a 2021-2022 Equity Leaders Action Network (ELAN) Fellow working diligently to advance policies, practices, programs, and initiatives that intentionally redress racial marginalization and create racial equity in early childhood systems. She is also an Advisory Board Member for National Farm to School Network; Co-Chair of Fair Budget Coalition Food Access Issue Group; and Co-Chair of FRAC’s Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.



Martha Assefa
Martha joined DCHS in January 2021 as an Anti-Hunger Associate. Martha is passionate about working toward a vision of local, culturally appropriate, accessible food for our community.


Blake Turpin

Blake joined FRAC in November 2022 as an Anti-Hunger Program Associate. In their role, they work to increase SNAP participation and quality in the District through advocacy, research, client outreach, coalition-building, technical assistance, public education, and program monitoring. They also work to advance the anti-hunger and anti-poverty goals of D.C. Hunger Solutions and partner coalitions.

Blake has previously served as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow at Project Bread in Boston, MA, where they worked on child nutrition program policy, and at RESULTS Educational Fund in Washington, D.C., where they worked on housing and tax policy. Prior to this, they interned and volunteered in various roles related to education, immigration, and criminal justice.

Blake has a B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee.

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DCHS commends the @USDA for approving D.C.’s P-EBT plan, providing food assistance benefits to children who have lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to COVID-19-related school closures: https://bit.ly/3rU4HML

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