At Amos House’s soup kitchen, need is typically lower at the beginning of the month, then ramps up as people’s public-assistance benefits run out. Now, the numbers have changed.
“Traditionally, the way that timing works in our soup kitchen is we are slowest at the beginning of the month,” said Jessica Salter, chief philanthropy officer at the poverty assistance agency. “What we’re seeing now is that the numbers we used to reach at the end of the month, we’re now seeing at the beginning of the month.
“Inflation is hitting hard, and [benefits] just aren’t going as far as they used to.”
That’s primarily due to inflation on groceries, combined with an affordable housing crisis and compounded by increased winter heating costs, she adds.
“Housing prices have gone up,” Salter said. “We’ve seen more rental units being sold, and rents increasing, and that just outprices people for the market. We’ve seen people of all ages who have lived in an apartment for decades have their rent increased suddenly and substantially. And suddenly they find themselves on the brink of crisis.”
The nonprofit is now distributing rental assistance not just for permanent housing but also for temporary measures such as hotel rooms, or in more dire situations gas money for people living in cars.
“Those are not good options for anyone,” Salter said. “But we’re in a crisis right now.”
As for what to expect in the future, Salter said that year-end figures generally provide a good benchmark for what donations will look like in the coming year.
With the organization distributing 100,000 pounds of food in the past year, and 135,000 meals prepared in the soup kitchen, Salter doesn’t expect the need will decline anytime soon. And with one-time COVID-19 relief funding running out or already gone for many organizations, she hopes to shift focus on the struggles still present in the community.
“There was a focus on need that was so clear at the heights of the pandemic, and that tends to fade away as we all get back into what feels a little bit more like normal routines of life,” Salter said. “What we need to remember is that so many are still in a really tough situation, and it takes a community effort to address that need.”