You’re elderly. You live alone in the big city. If you have family, they are likely far away. Your income is limited and by the third week of every month you sometimes wonder if the few containers of yogurt and the quart of milk that sit in your refrigerator will take you through until the next Social Security or pension check arrives in your mailbox. You know that you can always count on that extra-large box of Corn Flakes which seems to last forever.
What you have always dreaded has now come true—the landlord has announced that rent is increasing by $267 for the next six months so that the building can cover the costs of the new generators they had to install after Hurricane Sandy left your building cold and dark for weeks. How will you manage those extra costs and still have sufficient funds to put food on your table?
With some new funding that we recently received, this elder Lillie* living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and known to the social workers at Project Ezra can rest more comfortably as she was one of six additional people to become part of our creative and effective arrangement with Project Ezra and a small market in the neighborhood. Each month, Lillie and others have a $30 “credit” to buy extra food when all that is left is the yogurt and milk and cold cereal.
We were not surprised to hear that Lillie actually cried when she heard about her new found luck. Elder hunger in this country is a serious problem. The Good People Fund is proud of the small but important role it takes to alleviate this sad situation. No one should struggle with hunger issues– least of all our elders .
*a pseudonym
