Senior hunger is a serious issue in Central Texas. One third of the individuals the Food Bank serves are older adults. After years of working hard, our older neighbors find themselves making difficult choices.
When Twanya was in a tough situation, she took a physically demanding job out of desperation. But things didn’t turn out the way she thought.
Unfortunately, the job took a toll on her body, which resulted in multiple doctor visits she couldn’t afford.
“It’s physically too hard for me. The pain and damage it was doing to my body was bigger than my income…. I’m at a point in my life where I have to put my health as a priority. They didn’t offer me medical, so I’m going to take this opportunity to get a new job that’s appropriate for my limitations,” Twanya said.
Without medical insurance, paying for specialists became too expensive. Unable to work, Twanya lost her job and racked up medical expenses.
Twanya’s sister-in-law took her in to help her out. But it has been difficult to meet a basic need: food. The SNAP benefits she receives aren't enough to make it through the month.
“I have no income. It’s hard to budget when there’s nothing coming in. It gets to be overwhelming. We tried to make it until food stamps but we fell short by like five days,” she said.
Twanya was able to go to her local pantry to get nourishing food to help her make ends meet.
“That’s why we’re here, to help me not spend $30 or $40 that we don’t have right now. So this frees up for the short of it. It’s just filling the gap for us. We only come here when we need to come here,” she said.
Individuals like Twanya can turn to the Food Bank’s partners for help when they need it most. This Older Americans month, we’re raising awareness about senior hunger and urge our community to help fight senior hunger.
To make an even greater impact for older adults facing tough choices, we’ve partnered with Feeding America, Walmart and Sam’s Club for their Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign, which makes it easy for our neighbors to give back on their next shopping trip. Learn more on how you can help here.
Partnerships like these support Food Bank programs that help us provide healthy food for individuals of all ages who are in need. Thanks to the generosity of our community and partners, we distributed nearly 47 million pounds of food last year– more than ever before - that’s equivalent to 39 million meals!
