Her group distributed more than 64 million meals last year - more than any previous year and double 2019 levels. "As we are thinking about how our nation rebuilds in a more equitable and inclusive manner, food and food programs have a really critical role to play." "Coming out of the height of the pandemic with inflation being as sustained and high as it is, it's a hard time for many families," said Radha Muthiah, CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank. Keren Carrión/NPR Food pantry clients are only allowed a limited amount of visits, and there are limits on certain grocery items.Īs stark as it may be, their story is not unique. The trauma in turn trickled down to the children, whose health has also "gone downhill." "No matter how long you live in it, it causes trauma," she added, noting the stress caused her and her husband to develop PTSD, bringing her lupus and rheumatoid arthritis out of remission. "Living in poverty makes you sicker or causes you to become sick if you aren't and it's hard to get out of," Thomas said. And she's only allowed one visit to the pantry per month. Signs on the sparse shelves indicated limits on some of the products - a pound of meat, two gallons of milk, two dozen eggs or five cans of soup per person. She spoke after picking up free groceries from the food pantry run by Western Fairfax Christian Ministries in Chantilly, Va. And then when he got out, he's worked in different jobs," she said. I've worked in social services, in the human services field for over 30 years. And we've always worked since we were teenagers. My husband is an honorably discharged combat vet. "Both my husband and I are college educated. In the not-so-distant past, the family lived in a three-story townhome they shared with Thomas's grandmother. A social worker by training, she used to give bags of food and other donations to kids in need. Thomas, 47, was not always on this side of the poverty line. But a divided Congress could set back some of the Biden administration's broader proposals that could help lift people like Heather out of poverty. The private sector and charities have committed eight billion dollars. This week, the White House hosted its first conference on hunger in a generation, unveiling a national strategy that included decreasing obesity and diet-related disease - such as diabetes - through healthier eating, good nutrition and physical activity. No community is spared, with rural areas, families with children and communities of color disproportionately affected. Nationwide, more than 33 million people, including five million children, are food insecure, according to the USDA. That's a third of the population living in and around the capital of one of the richest nations on Earth. They're among the more than 1.2 million people who struggled to put food on the table at some point last year in the Washington, D.C. And one of his health conditions ended up getting a lot worse. My husband's health, because of his conditions, there were times we just couldn't eat right. And we just lost it all," Thomas recalled. "It just went from a drip to a flood very quickly. She and her husband lost their jobs and home, their small business folded, multiple relatives died and health crises pushed them into medical debt. Heather Thomas can count out the tragedies that pulled her family of eight into poverty.
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