National Hunger Hotline Stories
Winter 2005

Portraits of Hunger: American Families in CrisisWinter 2005

• A Florida mother called the Hotline days after fleeing her abusive husband. She was staying with friends who were willing to hide her and her two children, but there wasn’t enough food for all of them. She also needed clothing and furniture for her boys. Hotline staff gave her the number of the local food stamp office and a food pantry where she could get food right away. Staff provided the number for the Salvation Army and United Way for help with furniture and clothing. Hotline staff also encouraged her to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline to get legal advice and referrals for free counseling for herself and her children.
  
  
• Released from the hospital following hernia surgery, but with no place to go, a homeless Florida man called the Hotline. Two weeks earlier, he had made arrangements from the hospital to enter a shelter upon his release, but now, disoriented from the surgery and in pain, he could not remember the name or phone number of the shelter. He did not have money to use a payphone to try to find the shelter, so he called the toll-free National Hunger Hotline. After calling numerous local shelters, Hotline staff located the one that the man was supposed to enter and spoke to the staff person who was still holding a bed for him. The caller had no money for transportation to the shelter and was in too much pain to walk, but the staff of the shelter said that local police in the area were familiar with the shelter and would take him there.
  
  
• A Mississippi couple called the Hotline after Hurricane Katrina ripped through their town. Their power was gone and home destroyed. Confused about what benefits they were eligible for or where to turn for help, they reached out to the hotline staff to confirm rumors that they could get disaster food stamps. Hotline staff told them where they could apply for these benefits, as well as general assistance from FEMA. They also provided them with the contact information for the Red Cross and Salvation Army groups working in their areas.
  
  
• A Kentucky single mother called the Hotline in tears. She worked as a waitress and was falling behind in her bills. She had applied for food stamps but was denied because her income just barely exceeded the allowable amount. Her biggest problem was her lack of health insurance for her children. She was saddled with debt from a hospital bill from a year ago. Hotline staff offered support and explored all the government and community assistance programs available. Staff suggested she apply for Kentucky’s Children’s Health Insurance Program for free coverage for her children. Staff also told her about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help with her utilities. Because her hours had just been cut back, the caller’s wages were less than before, so the Hotline staff suggested she apply again for food stamps. In case she was denied again, however, they also supplied her with the name of a local food pantry.
  
  
• A woman from Virginia called the Hotline in distress. Because of a medical condition, she was taking steroids that had caused her to gain weight. She could no longer fit into her clothing, and did not have the money to purchase a new wardrobe. Finances were so tight in her household that she was struggling between paying the bills and purchasing nutritional food for her family. Her husband was an undocumented immigrant who had trouble finding work, and they had small children. She also suffered greatly from anxiety and depression that was exacerbated by the challenging situation she was going through. Hotline staff offered many resources, including the local Salvation Army and United Way for clothing donations. Staff spent time discussing different options for meeting her family’s nutritional needs, including food stamps, food pantries, and the SHARE program, which provides fresh discounted groceries in return for two hours of community service per month.
  
  
• A Florida Pastor called the Hotline this Fall when 20 hurricane refugees were camping out in her church. Hotline staff provided her with a list of the local sites set up to process FEMA applications and disaster food stamps, and confirmed for her which counties had been declared official disasters. They also gave her contact information for food pantries and other social services in the region.
  
  
• A woman in a homeless shelter in Georgia called the Hotline because she and her family were having difficulty digesting the food that the shelter served. Her family had just moved from Alaska, where they were vegetarians and ate a lot of fresh produce. The canned food in the shelter was causing her family to get sick. Staff connected her to the Society of St. Andrew’s, an organization that gleans fresh produce from farms and delivers it to shelters and food pantries. The Society of St. Andrew’s would then be able to refer the family to a partner shelter or pantry where they could find fresh produce.