"After working all day, coming home to an empty kitchen is hard. The juice is always the first thing to go.
"But we are so lucky. We can come here and get a good hot meal or a bag of groceries that will pull us through."
Read this and other stories of people we help.
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Seniors
Seniors are one of the largest groups that rely on soup kitchens and food pantries throughout the five boroughs. In addition to the challenges associated with New York City's low-income neighborhoods, seniors in need must confront various issues associated with old age, including medical problems and the need for assistance to complete daily tasks. Learn more below about New York City's seniors in need with key statistics and stories from the seniors we help.
- Approximately one out of every six elderly New Yorkers (approximately 154,000) receives food from soup kitchens and food pantries. (NYC Hunger Safety Net 2007)
- Almost one out of five (19 percent) seniors in NYC (10 percent in the US) lives below the federal poverty level (approximately $16,000 per year for a family of three). (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2006)
- Approximately one out of every three (32 percent) seniors in NYC have difficulty affording needed food — a 39 percent increase over the past five years. (NYC Hunger Experience 2008)
- Less than one-fifth (19 percent) of households with seniors accessing emergency food are enrolled in the federal Food Stamp Program, lower than the overall average of 46 percent. (NYC Hunger Safety Net 2007)
In all of the above statistics, seniors are defined as 65 and older.
Read stories below from seniors who have received assistance through our network of more than 1,000 food assistance programs throughout the five boroughs. Real names are not used.
Ann, Queens meals-on-heels recipient
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"I've never had to ask for help before. It's been terribly hard and frustrating trying to get help from the government. I've always been independent and have never had to depend on anyone or any place. That is, until now.
"I worked my entire life. But I'm homebound now and I live by myself. I need a lot of help. I lived through the Depression and know how to stretch a dollar. But $600 in Social Security a month is just not enough. That's supposed to cover rent, food, clothes, bills? I've tried and tried to get government assistance, but apparently my income is too high. Without the food I get delivered, I don't know how I'd survive."
We met Ann while accompanying meal delivery for a meals-on-heels program at One Way Church of Christ in Queens, which has been a Food Bank network member for ten years.
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Betty, Manhattan senior center guest
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"I come here because it's a very cheerful place. This is the age when people start to become isolated. By coming here you avoid a lot of that isolation because you form friendships...
"The economy is just unbelievably stressing to people. If you can manage to spend $2 a day [at a senior center] to have breakfast and lunch out, that's pretty good!...
"I'm happy we have senior centers all around the city and I don't see it as charity, I see it as a way of keeping people alive and full of life."
Watch this client in our 2008 "The Reality of Hunger" video. We met Betty at the Encore Senior Center in Manhattan, which has been a Food Bank network member for eight years. As a Department for the Aging program, Encore Senior Center solicits volunteer donations of $1 during meal service.
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Phil, Bronx food pantry guest
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"The food they give you is like when you go out shopping. If you went out and bought it, that would cost you 25, 30 bucks — which is money that I don't have...
"I really, really need the pantry to survive."
Watch this client in our 2007 "This Is Hunger" video. We met Phil at the Aging in America senior center in the Bronx, which has been a Food Bank network member for six years.
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