The number of Cook County residents who seek emergency food assistance each year has increased 36 percent since 2006, according to a recent report on hunger.
Hunger in America 2010, released Feb. 2, stated 678,000 people in Cook County rely on supplemental and emergency food sources, including soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters.
At the Evanston Salvation Army Food Pantry, caseworker Jean Sapper said she has seen an increase in clients since June of last year. There has been a 25 to 50 percent increase in clients served, depending on the month, she said.
In response to this growth in demand, the pantry has raised the amount of food it stocks.”We just keep ordering,” Sapper said.
Of the 121 people the pantry serves, “quite a few are on food stamps,” Sapper said.
The report suggests many people who are eligible for food stamps may not be receiving them. In Cook County only 44 percent of residents who rely on emergency and supplemental food sources receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Food Stamp benefits. Fourteen percent of people in need never applied for those benefits because they did not believe they were eligible, according to the report.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository has been working since July 2007 to increase access to food stamps for eligible clients.
“It’s a federal benefit, and we want to make sure that those who are eligible for (the program) know about it and know how to apply for it,” said Meaghan Farno, the organization’s public relations coordinator.
The depository’s outreach program works with local food pantries during their distribution times, providing clients access to printers and scanners and assisting in the proper completion of paper work.
“We’re able to screen them and able to estimate what their benefit would be,” Farno said.
“We found there were a lot of people that just assumed they weren’t eligible or just didn’t even know SNAP was a possibility for their family, so we were able to open that door and educate them.”
The program, Food Stamp Outreach, also visits housing developments and apartment complexes known to house people in need of food assistance.
Farno said the Illinois Department of Human Services, the office responsible for processing SNAP applications and distributing food stamps, operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This makes it difficult for some people to visit the DHS without jeopardizing their jobs, she said.
“If you’re lucky enough to have a job, you might not be able to make it down to those office hours,” Farno said.
Food Stamp Outreach’s efforts at residential areas are intended to give increased food stamp access to those who are employed.
Seventy-nine percent of those who receive food assistance are unemployed, according to Hunger in America 2010. This widespread drop in income has caused many Cook County residents to choose between food and heat, housing, medicine or transportation.
Even people who are employed seek regular food assistance. One in three households served by the Chicago Food Depository and its member agencies had at least one or more adults working, according to the hunger report.
Sandy T. Williams, the program director of Family Focus in Evanston, said the number of clients her pantry serves has doubled in the past year, causing the organization to streamline the process.
“Before someone could just pop in,” Williams said. “Now it’s two days a week, and we have pre-sorted bags already made. It’s easier for us to track that way, and then we’re also helping the families by trying to put a balanced meal in the bag.”
The Cook County community has responded to the increased need as well, said Sapper, from the Evanston Salvation Army. Much of the food the Salvation Army distributes is donated by the community.
“When the community knows that people are hurting, they’re more gracious and they’re more giving,” she said. “We’re always stocked.”[email protected]