Working Toward a Goal

2014 is living on borrowed time. As this year fades into the next, many of us begin to reflect on what has happen in our lives and what we want to change. Resolutions take center stage as we think about how to live differently; how to improve our situations. Something very important to us, at Samaritan House, is making sure hunger does not keep a crippling grasp of Montanans.

In 2013, 5 percent of households served by Feeding America programs, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization, were homeless, and 27 percent of households served by Feeding America’s meal programs—such as kitchens and shelters—were homeless. The same year, The United States Conference of Mayors’ Hunger and Homelessness Survey found that 9 percent of all people who accessed food assistance in 25 cities across the country were homeless.

These figures might give you the impression that not very many homeless people receive food assistance, but consider this: less than 1 percent (0.19 percent to be precise) of all people in America is homeless, according to the 2014 Point-in-Time-Count. That means that the homeless population is drastically overrepresented among people who access food assistance.

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that people who are homeless also tend to be hungry. According to the 2013 Hunger and Homelessness Survey and the National Coalition for the Homeless, many of the risk factors for hunger are the same as those that contribute to homelessness:

Poverty
Unemployment
High cost of housing
Low wages
Medical or health care costs

In other words, homelessness and hunger often go hand-in-hand. So, while it is important to remember during the holidays that many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from, it’s just as important to remember this year-round. Neither homelessness nor hunger are seasonal.

Want to help alleviate hunger for members of this community. This becomes a reality when people people donate and stand beside us. We appreciate all manner of donations and there is still plenty of time to contribute this year. Both housing and food are necessities for all people, and we must work together to continue fighting to end homelessness and hunger.

-thanks to National Alliance to end Homelessness.