Imagine living without shelter or wondering where your next meal was coming from?
Bucks County Commissioners affirmed National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, November 16-22, to remind the public about the realities of those living un housed and hungry.
The nationwide event aims to “educate the public about the causes of hunger and homelessness [and generate] support for assistance services and community food banks,” said Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia at a regular board of commissioners meeting Wednesday.
Among the goals is “the recognition that people experiencing homelessness, and specifically those people living on the streets, do not choose to do so … it is important we reject the stigma,” said Murielle Kelly, director of housing services at Family Service Association of Bucks County.
National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week was founded at Villanova University in 1975.
In the U.S., 37.2 million people live below the poverty level, while an estimated 580,000 Americans are living unhoused; 44 million are at risk of living with hunger and 1 in 6 children live in poverty, according to the Hunger and Homelessness Awarenes website.
“In front of the mural in the Bucks County Administration Building there is a display to illustrate what it would be like to spend a night unhoused – if you didn’t notice it on the way in, please stop on your way out,” said Ellis-Marseglia. She said those who have died as a result of homelessness are also acknowledged on the display.
“Kudos to Bucks County for reaching in so we could reach out,” Ellis Marseglia added.
The Bucks County Housing Group link provides resources for those in need, and it lists agencies for those able to provide support through donations and financial gifts.
Bucks County Opportunity Council, United Way of Bucks County, YWCA of Bucks County, and others, “work year round” to prevent hunger and homelessness, Ellis-Marseglia said.
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There are over 70 food pantries in Bucks County, according to Eric Clare, executive director of Bucks County Housing Group.
He said roughly 47,000 Bucks County residents receive SNAP benefits, which includes free and reduced lunches through the National School Lunch Program for school age children and WIC programs for infant nutrition.
“All these were suspended up until last week,” Clare said.
Throughout Pennsylvania about 2 million SNAP recipients are at risk.
“If there is a silver lining [to the SNAP funding disruption] it highlights the need – in Bucks County and across the U.S. There are 64,000 food insecure people in Bucks County; 1 in 10 people or 1 in 9 children are food insecure in Bucks County,” Clare explained.
READ: End of Emergency Housing Voucher Program Will Increase Homelessness in Pennsylvania
He added the number of people visiting food shelters has doubled during the past three weeks “and those numbers have been sustained.”
Roughly $25,000 in donations to FISH organizations, which include Doylestown Area Fish and Pennridge FISH Organization Inc. have been made to support those in need during the recent SNAP assistance funding cuts and restrictions.
“Just because the [National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week] is over and we’ve raised awareness …we want to continue – specifically in February and March – when all the food from drives has been given out,” Clare added.
