---
title: "The Platform Went Away. The Need Didn’t"
id: "595"
type: "post"
slug: "arizona-summer-meals-map-continuity"
published_at: "2026-05-28T22:06:00+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-10-21T22:11:28+00:00"
url: "https://compiledrogue.com/articles/arizona-summer-meals-map-continuity/"
markdown_url: "https://compiledrogue.com/articles/arizona-summer-meals-map-continuity.md"
excerpt: "When the Arizona Health Zone platform lost its funding, its summer meals map still served a real need. We helped move the experience into Arizona Food Bank Network's WordPress site, preserving a public resource without rebuilding the entire system."
taxonomy_category:
  - "Selected Work"
taxonomy_post_tag:
  - "Arizona Food Bank Network"
  - "Elementor"
  - "Interactive Maps"
  - "Platform Migration"
  - "Public Interest Technology"
  - "WordPress"
---

May 28, 2026Selected Work

## The Platform Went Away. The Need Didn’t

# How we helped keep Arizona's summer meals map online after the original platform lost its funding.

The new Arizona summer meals map just relaunched.

**The original platform went away, but the need did not.**

The program helps kids and teens 18 and under find free meals at participating schools and community sites during summer break. Depending on the location, those meals may include breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks. There is no application or paperwork required, kids simply need to be present.

As a parent whose son went through the Arizona public school system, I was glad to be part of keeping this initiative online.

A few years ago, along with OH Partners, we helped build the Arizona Health Zone platform. Part of that work supported Arizona’s summer meals program, and at the time, we had control of the full stack.

That meant we could build the map experience around the data, the interface, the administrative workflow, and the operational needs of the program.

When the Arizona Health Zone system lost its funding, Arizona Food Bank Network was asked to carry the work forward since they work with school nutrition programs throughout the rest of the year already. They believed the summer meals program was worth continuing, even without federal funding.

**So did I.**

The technical challenge was not really that the map needed to move. It was that the map needed to move from a platform we controlled and maintained into one we did not.

The new version needed to live inside Arizona Food Bank Network’s existing WordPress and Elementor site.

In practical terms, the move was straightforward: take the custom mapping logic that already worked and wrap it in a way that could live inside the new site.

The important part was preserving the logic of the original tool, adapting the interface to the AZFB site, and keeping the map connected to the editorial experience around it.

That continuity mattered on both sides.

For the public, the map needed to stay clear and useful. A parent should be able to find a nearby meal site, understand what is available, and know where to go.

For the organization, the tool needed to stay manageable beyond the transition. Site editors and administrators needed a solution that fit the existing WordPress / Elementor environment and worked inside tools they could quickly and simply maintain.

What they did not need was a platform argument. Nor did they need a separate application, a rebuild, or a workflow they could not easily own.

That meant respecting what the organization was working with: the platform, the workflow, the budget, the timeline, the people maintaining it, and the public relying on it and the resources around it.

The summer meals program is live through [Arizona Food Bank Network](https://azfoodbanks.org/summer-meals/)
.

This is not a flashy project. It is not a rebuild story. **It is a continuity story.**

The original system went away.

The need didn’t.

So the work was to carry the useful part forward, inside simple tools the organization could continue maintaining, for the families who still need it.