Open Hand Atlanta
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1988
- HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Open Hand Atlanta does
Open Hand Atlanta is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered at 1380 West Marietta St NW in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1988 by Michael Edwards-Pruitt during the AIDS crisis. It operates as the largest community-based provider of medically tailored meals in the Southeast and one of the largest in the United States, currently producing and delivering over 5,000 meals per day to home-bound individuals with chronic and severe illness. The organization's core product is a from-scratch, medically tailored meal program designed and approved by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to address specific health conditions (diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, HIV/AIDS), delivered directly to clients' homes, to congregate meal sites at senior centers (14 sites in Fulton County plus rural Georgia partners), and through clinical partner referrals. Adjacent programs include Medical Nutrition Therapy, Cooking Matters, Produce Prescription, Market Baskets, and the GRITS telenutrition education platform reaching 455+ seniors as of May 2022.
The technology backbone consists of a cloud-hosted Aptean ERP system unifying production software, inventory management, ordering, and accounting across handheld scanners, production tablets, and mobile devices; supporting SaaS tools include GivEffect for donations, VolunteerHub for volunteer management, and MailChimp for donor communications. In 2025 the organization earned Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC) accreditation and launched the Stephen Woods Workforce Development Program (WOODS), an 11-week culinary training initiative, while a wholly-owned social enterprise called Good Measure Meals sells ready-to-heat consumer meals with 100% of profits supporting the mission.
The business model is a hybrid nonprofit funding stack: roughly structured around individual/corporate donations and foundation grants (including a Takeda three-year, 273,000-meal partnership), federal and state government funding (SNAP, GusNIP, Ryan White HIV/AIDS), healthcare partner fees from managed care organizations and health systems (CareSource high-risk pregnancy pilot, CVS Health Zones, Emory, Grady), corporate sponsorships via signature events (Dining Out For Life, Golf Classic, Party in the Kitchen), and earned income from the Good Measure Meals social enterprise. Client meals are provided at no cost to qualifying individuals, with distribution driven by community-led partnerships, volunteer-supported operations (thousands of volunteers annually), and healthcare provider referrals. As of late 2025, the organization was led by CEO Matthew Pieper, who also chairs the FIMC Advisory Board, and was actively pursuing Medicare/Medicaid coverage of medically tailored meals as part of the broader Food Is Medicine movement.
Open Hand Atlanta firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Open Hand Atlanta
- Legal name
- Open Hand Atlanta
- Website
- https://openhandatlanta.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1988
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Open Hand Atlanta industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Medically Tailored Meal Services
- NAICS
- Community Food Services (62421)
- SIC
- Services-Home Health Care Services (8082)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Meal Preparation, Nutrition Support & Feeding Assistance (HLADAGAD)
Keywords
Where Open Hand Atlanta is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Atlanta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Open Hand Atlanta business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Charitable Donations and Grants: Individual donations, corporate giving, and foundation grants fund the majority of services. Donors can give through the website, at events, by mail, or set up recurring monthly gifts. Special campaigns target meal funding.
- Government Funding: Federal and state funding from programs including SNAP, GusNIP, and Ryan White HIV/AIDS programs. Funding streams are under threat of reduction, prompting advocacy efforts.
- Social Enterprise (Good Measure Meals): Good Measure Meals is Open Hand's social enterprise with 100% of profits supporting the mission. Sells healthy, ready-to-heat meals delivered to consumers for individual health goals.
- Healthcare Partner Fees: Partnerships with managed care organizations, health systems, and payers who fund medically tailored meals as part of care coordination programs (e.g., CareSource high-risk pregnancy program).
- Corporate Sponsorships and Events: Corporate sponsorships for events including Dining Out For Life, Golf Classic, and Party in the Kitchen. Employee wellness programs offered through Good Measure Meals.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Monthly | Client meals provided free of charge to qualifying individuals |
| Subscription | Monthly | Good Measure Meals consumer subscription |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Open Hand Atlanta product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Open Hand Atlanta prepares, packages, and delivers made-from-scratch medically tailored meals approved by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to home-bound individuals with chronic or severe illness. It also provides nutrition education programs, Medical Nutrition Therapy, congregate meals at senior centers, telenutrition seminars, market baskets, and a culinary workforce development program, producing over 5,000 meals per day across Georgia.
Product overview
Open Hand Atlanta operates as a nonprofit organization offering medically tailored meals and nutrition education services. Their core offerings include Medically Tailored Meals (delivered to home-bound individuals with chronic conditions), Nutrition Education programs (Medical Nutrition Therapy, Cooking Matters, Produce Prescription), and the Stephen Woods Workforce Development Program (WOODS) for culinary training. Their social enterprise Good Measure Meals sells prepared meals with proceeds supporting the mission. The organization also operates Market Baskets and Produce Boxes for food access. Internally, they utilize the Aptean ERP system to manage operations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Good Measure Meals: Social enterprise that makes it easy to meet health goals through convenient, ready-to-heat meals delivered to your door. 100% of profits support Open Hand's mission.
- GRITS
- WOODS
Products and services
- Medically Tailored Meals
Quantifiable outcome
- 1,594,000 hospitalizations could be avoided in first year if all people with diet-sensitive conditions received medically tailored meals
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Open Hand Atlanta
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Open Hand Atlanta technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature3 records
Open Hand Atlanta partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC)coreOpen Hand is a founding and accredited member of FIMC, an association of nonprofit medically tailored food and nutrition service providers. Open Hand CEO Matthew Pieper serves as Chair of the FIMC Advisory Board. FIMC accreditation represents a significant milestone, with Open Hand helping define standards for medically tailored meal interventions.
- ARCHI (Atlanta Regional Commission for Health Improvement)corePartnership with ARCHI and its Community Resource Hubs to provide six weeks' worth of meals to clients who screened positive for food insecurity. Goal was to meet needs of low-income people diagnosed with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
- Emory HealthcarecoreOpen Hand partnered with Emory Healthcare to hold the inaugural Georgia Food Is Medicine Summit, bringing renowned researchers to speak on the value proposition of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling. Key decision makers and healthcare leaders shared thoughts, ideas, and data about integrating nutrition services into healthcare.
- CareSourcecorePartnership with CareSource, a managed care organization, to examine the impact of medically tailored meals on health outcomes for individuals facing high-risk pregnancy. This is the second pilot program with CareSource focusing on supporting neighbors with high-risk pregnancies.
- Good Measure MealscoreGood Measure Meals is Open Hand's social enterprise, with 100% of its profits supporting the mission. The service provides convenient, ready-to-heat meals delivered to consumers' doors, making it easy to meet health goals. Offers include member discounts, nutrition education, on-site meals, and corporate wellness programs.
- Fulton CountycoreFulton County Senior Services partners with Open Hand, with Registered Dietitian Nutritionists visiting 14 senior centers across the county monthly to provide nutrition education. County is dedicated to having RDNs teach older adults, providing access to nutrition knowledge.
- Gainesville-Hall Senior ServicesminorNewest senior partner added in 2025, expanding the reach of nutrition education and medically tailored meal programs across Georgia.
- Grady Health SystemcorePartnership with Grady for the Hospital to Home program, providing healthy meals for patients at critical time during recovery from hospitalization. Recognizes that nutrition is critical for patients recovering from hospitalization.
- CVS HealthcoreCVS Health Zones program provided medically-tailored meals for 4 weeks followed by 6 weeks of Cooking Matters nutrition education paired with weekly seasonal produce delivery at Herndon Square.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Open Hand Atlanta competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- God's Love We Deliver: New York-based nonprofit that cooks and home-delivers medically tailored meals to people living with serious illness; operates a near-identical model to Open Hand Atlanta and is a fellow FIMC accredited member.
- Project Open Hand: San Francisco-based nonprofit providing home-delivered meals and nutrition services to people living with HIV/AIDS, critical illness, and seniors; founding FIMC member with directly comparable mission, model, and target population.
- Community Servings: Boston-area nonprofit medically tailored meal provider serving individuals and families living with critical and chronic illness; FIMC accredited with the same made-from-scratch, RDN-approved meal model as Open Hand Atlanta.
- MANNA: Philadelphia-based nonprofit that cooks and home-delivers medically tailored meals and provides nutrition counseling to clients with serious illness; FIMC member with directly overlapping service model, payer partnerships, and target population.
- Food & Friends: Washington DC-area nonprofit providing home-delivered medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses; founding FIMC member with directly comparable program structure.
Broad incumbents
- Meals on Wheels America: National umbrella organization supporting a network of 5,000+ community-based senior nutrition programs across the U.S.; broader and more diffuse than Open Hand, but the dominant incumbent in home-delivered meals for elderly populations.
- Mom's Meals (PurFoods): For-profit, nationally scaled provider of refrigerated, medically tailored meals delivered to homes and shipped to managed care organizations, health plans, and individuals; competes with Open Hand for the same payer and Medicaid contracts at a national scale.
- GA Foods: Florida-based for-profit provider of home-delivered meals, including medically tailored options, serving government, managed care, and senior living programs across the U.S.; directly competes for payer MTM contracts.
Emerging players
- Epicured: For-profit medically tailored meal provider based in the Northeast focusing on chronic conditions such as diabetes and digestive disease; smaller and more regionally focused than Mom's Meals but increasingly pursuing payer partnerships.
Others
- FareStart: Seattle-based nonprofit that combines a culinary workforce development program with social-enterprise meal production; comparable to Open Hand via the WOODS workforce program and Good Measure Meals social enterprise.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Open Hand Atlanta social profiles
Digital presenceOpen Hand Atlanta compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Open Hand Atlanta financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Open Hand Atlanta leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Open Hand Atlanta subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Open Hand Atlanta funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Open Hand Atlanta M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Open Hand Atlanta
What does Open Hand Atlanta do?
Open Hand Atlanta prepares, packages, and delivers made-from-scratch medically tailored meals approved by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to home-bound individuals with chronic or severe illness. It also provides nutrition education programs, Medical Nutrition Therapy, congregate meals at senior centers, telenutrition seminars, market baskets, and a culinary workforce development program, producing over 5,000 meals per day across Georgia.
Is Open Hand Atlanta a public or private company?
Open Hand Atlanta is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Open Hand Atlanta founded?
Open Hand Atlanta was founded in 1988. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Open Hand Atlanta based?
Open Hand Atlanta is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.
How does Open Hand Atlanta make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Charitable Donations and Grants are the primary driver. The others are government Funding, social Enterprise (Good Measure Meals), healthcare Partner Fees and corporate Sponsorships and Events.
Who are Open Hand Atlanta's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are God's Love We Deliver, Project Open Hand, Community Servings, MANNA and Food & Friends. Broad incumbents are Meals on Wheels America, Mom's Meals (PurFoods) and GA Foods. Epicured is listed as an emerging player. FareStart is listed as an others.
Does Open Hand Atlanta have an API?
No public API is recorded for Open Hand Atlanta.
What industry is Open Hand Atlanta in?
Open Hand Atlanta's product category is Medically Tailored Meal Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLADAGAD, Meal Preparation, Nutrition Support & Feeding Assistance. Its NAICS code is 62421 and its SIC code is 8082.