North Side food pantry gets a new kind of client
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Cynthia Washington, Northside Common Ministries food bank coordinator, restocks shelves at the Brighton Road location.
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Three times a week, a stream of people files through Jana Thompson's office at the Northside Common Ministries on their way to the food pantry there.
Ms. Thompson smiles, makes small talk, and ensures that they've met all the requirements to use the pantry. The pantry volunteer doesn't keep track of the number of people coming through, but she's noticed a difference from when she started there more than two years ago.
A majority of the people who come to the food pantry are on Social Security, but an increasing number receive unemployment benefits or are working. According to census data, about 66 percent of American households living at or below the poverty line have at least one family member with a job.
For 2011, the poverty line is set at a total yearly income of $22,350 for a family of four.
The recession officially ended more than a year ago, but you wouldn't know it at the food pantry.
In 2010, the Northside Common Ministries food pantry, the largest in Pittsburgh, served about 750 people each month.
In March, 929 people used the facility, and by last month that number was up to 974. Officials expect this month's numbers to be just as high, and for the monthly average for all of 2011 to hover around 900.
A small portion of that increase may have to do with outreach efforts by Northside Common Ministries and other local groups. But officials believe it also indicates an increase in the number of people who are unable to feed themselves without assistance.
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank partners with food banks in 11 counties, including the North Side, to collect and distribute food. According to spokeswoman Iris Valanti, more than 320,000 people are food insecure in the organization's coverage area.
She attributes this to the high unemployment rate and a delay in the way some poor people responded to the economic times.
"So many people who become unemployed have savings or go to family first, so they're coming to us last now," Ms. Valanti said.
Each month for the past two years, the Community Food Bank has seen about 2,500 new families, on average, Ms. Valanti said.
Of the 974 people served at the North Side food pantry in May, 76 of them came for the first time.
It's a humbling experience, Ms. Thompson said, but a necessary one for people living at or below the poverty line, and even a substantial number who are above it: Nearly half of people who are food insecure have incomes higher than 185 percent of the line and don't qualify for food stamps and other federal programs.
"I've watched the desperation, when they're scared," she said. "And then it's just, OK, we never thought we would be able to make it at that point, so here we go, we can do it."
Both the North Side pantry and the Community Food Bank operate largely independently, without government assistance, relying on business and personal donations. They have been stretched thin by the influx of people into their facilities, especially at this time of year, when people are less inclined to donate than around the year-end holidays.
To donate to Northside Common Ministries, visit ncmin.org or call 412-323-1163
First Published June 20, 2011 12:00 am
