Families living in poverty are usually headed by a single woman with limited education, are usually young, and have high rates of domestic violence and mental illness.. In fact, families living in poverty, however, fall into homelessness, usually due to some unforeseen financial challenge, such as a death in the family, a lost job, or an unexpected bill, creating a situation where the family cannot maintain housing. Homeless families comprise roughly 34% of the U.S. homeless population. The typical sheltered homeless family is comprised of a mother in her late twenties with two children. 84% of homeless families are female-headed. Single parent families are among the poorest in the nation leaving them extremely vulnerable to homelessness. Minorities are overwhelmingly represented in the homeless population: 43% are African American, 15% are Hispanic, 8% are white and 3% are Native American.
Please help us in our efforts to make sure that these families have access to healthy food. Too often those of us that are privileged take for granted the everyday blessings and opportunities that many others don’t have or have lost in today’s tough economic times.
We are planning to raise money to buy groceries that will be delivered to poverty stricken areas in the heartland.
Facts about Hunger in the Heartland
About 57,700 different people in our service area receive emergency food assistance in any given week.
The Food Bank distributed 12 million pounds of food to our agency partners and our direct programs during the 2014 fiscal year.
Approximately 20 percent of children in the Heartland are at-risk for hunger.
18 percent of clients served in the heartland are 60 years of age or older.
15 percent of Americans reported at least one time in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their family needed.
66 percent of clients served by Heartland Food Bank report having to choose between paying for food and utilities.
64 percent of clients in the Food Bank's service area have incomes below the federal poverty line.
28 percent of clients in the Food Bank's service area have a post-high school education.
Please help us in our efforts to make sure that these families have access to healthy food. Too often those of us that are privileged take for granted the everyday blessings and opportunities that many others don’t have or have lost in today’s tough economic times.
We are planning to raise money to buy groceries that will be delivered to poverty stricken areas in the heartland.
Facts about Hunger in the Heartland
About 57,700 different people in our service area receive emergency food assistance in any given week.
The Food Bank distributed 12 million pounds of food to our agency partners and our direct programs during the 2014 fiscal year.
Approximately 20 percent of children in the Heartland are at-risk for hunger.
18 percent of clients served in the heartland are 60 years of age or older.
15 percent of Americans reported at least one time in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their family needed.
66 percent of clients served by Heartland Food Bank report having to choose between paying for food and utilities.
64 percent of clients in the Food Bank's service area have incomes below the federal poverty line.
28 percent of clients in the Food Bank's service area have a post-high school education.