“Leave Some for Others” - A Survey of Poor People
“Lost your job” and “you make too much money for social security.” These are some of the comments I heard over the cubicle wall as Julie interviewed a client for the Hunger in America study today at the Samaritan Center in Clinton, Missouri. A woman was elaborating on her situation during some of the questions about her household’s income, food, and health condition. The woman was frustrated with her situation “trying to get disability insurance and wasted a lot of time and money in Warrensburg and Kansas City.”
The building is an old single story building in the older part of Clinton with patterned-covered wallboard and a drop ceiling. Clients are able to visit the pantry once a month. They come in and schedule the next month’s visit, then go through the pantry.
Conducting interviews involves a fair amount of waiting as clients come through for food. A random sample selects every fourth client today based on the estimate of the number of people seeking food. The goal is to get 10-12 interviews at each site. One woman who volunteered for the interview lost her husband recently. She went on food stamps soon after he lost his job before he passed away. Her son dropped by during the interview. He talked about morel mushroom-hunting. He said he got eight small mushrooms. Later he said he found them in Urich, Missouri on conservation property off Highway 7. He suggested I could go there if I had time. I asked him how he fixed them – “just like chicken – battered and fried.” She made $75 last month and $3000 last year after
Sharon, a Samaritan Center volunteer and former worker at the unemployment office in Clinton, described common causes for unemployment – absenteeism. The big employers nearby were a boat manufacturer, Clearfield Cheese, which runs three shifts, nursing homes, an assisted living center and a medical center. Carol, her sister, was also volunteering that day. Sharon was coordinating the commodity distribution. Carol sees an increase in those seeking assistance. 10-15 volunteers help out at the center where they’ve extended hours every third Wednesday of the month from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The center is located just off the square in Clinton, which is the seat of Henry County. There’s also a new jail to replace the old one, which also houses the sheriff’s offices.
Updated: This post was written before the every-four-years Hunger in America - 2010 report was available to the public. The report was based on thousands of interviews with people receiving food assistance and the peole that operate food pantries and soup kitchens.
The building is an old single story building in the older part of Clinton with patterned-covered wallboard and a drop ceiling. Clients are able to visit the pantry once a month. They come in and schedule the next month’s visit, then go through the pantry.
Conducting interviews involves a fair amount of waiting as clients come through for food. A random sample selects every fourth client today based on the estimate of the number of people seeking food. The goal is to get 10-12 interviews at each site. One woman who volunteered for the interview lost her husband recently. She went on food stamps soon after he lost his job before he passed away. Her son dropped by during the interview. He talked about morel mushroom-hunting. He said he got eight small mushrooms. Later he said he found them in Urich, Missouri on conservation property off Highway 7. He suggested I could go there if I had time. I asked him how he fixed them – “just like chicken – battered and fried.” She made $75 last month and $3000 last year after
Sharon, a Samaritan Center volunteer and former worker at the unemployment office in Clinton, described common causes for unemployment – absenteeism. The big employers nearby were a boat manufacturer, Clearfield Cheese, which runs three shifts, nursing homes, an assisted living center and a medical center. Carol, her sister, was also volunteering that day. Sharon was coordinating the commodity distribution. Carol sees an increase in those seeking assistance. 10-15 volunteers help out at the center where they’ve extended hours every third Wednesday of the month from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The center is located just off the square in Clinton, which is the seat of Henry County. There’s also a new jail to replace the old one, which also houses the sheriff’s offices.
Samaritan Center is moving into a new 17,000 square foot building south of the square – combining both the clothing thrift store and food pantry. We visited the thrift store on the way out of town. Jodi Billings has been director of the center for the last year after working for the thrift store for two years.
A mother with two kids is living with her fiancé. She makes $3500 per year and uses several food programs for kids – free lunch, free breakfast, and Backsnack, along with the pantry -- to make ends meet.
Another woman, a mother of four kids, lives with her partner who injured his foot and is not working. She earned $800 a month working at a restaurant. I detected her pride in keeping her kids fed, while at the same time, not taking more than she needed – “leave some for others,” she added. Another woman interviewed early said the same thing. The other woman had an acute illness, but kept her attitude up. They received food stamps – she was happy about the increase because of the recovery act.
These "leave some for others" comments shows that even people that have come on bad times or loss of income still seem to think there are others that are more deserving. They are just too humble to ask for food assistance.
During these interviews clear patterns appear for people seeking food assistance, such as experiencing financial difficulty due to illness or injury. It's apparent that in many cases their situation is not caused by lifestyle choices, but because of low-wage jobs or significant costs to medical care. In my opinion these conditions are the result of a market-driven society, which has placed profit before the care and compassion of people in our community.
A mother with two kids is living with her fiancé. She makes $3500 per year and uses several food programs for kids – free lunch, free breakfast, and Backsnack, along with the pantry -- to make ends meet.
Another woman, a mother of four kids, lives with her partner who injured his foot and is not working. She earned $800 a month working at a restaurant. I detected her pride in keeping her kids fed, while at the same time, not taking more than she needed – “leave some for others,” she added. Another woman interviewed early said the same thing. The other woman had an acute illness, but kept her attitude up. They received food stamps – she was happy about the increase because of the recovery act.
These "leave some for others" comments shows that even people that have come on bad times or loss of income still seem to think there are others that are more deserving. They are just too humble to ask for food assistance.
During these interviews clear patterns appear for people seeking food assistance, such as experiencing financial difficulty due to illness or injury. It's apparent that in many cases their situation is not caused by lifestyle choices, but because of low-wage jobs or significant costs to medical care. In my opinion these conditions are the result of a market-driven society, which has placed profit before the care and compassion of people in our community.
Updated: This post was written before the every-four-years Hunger in America - 2010 report was available to the public. The report was based on thousands of interviews with people receiving food assistance and the peole that operate food pantries and soup kitchens.
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