GLENDALE, AZ — Twice a month, Robert Allen drives his motorized wheelchair 12 blocks on busy streets to the Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Hope for Hunger Food Bank where volunteers load up his cart with the groceries he needs to survive. Allen can’t drive and the people at the food bank are his lifeline.
“Because I don’t qualify for food stamps. Just under the limit as far as getting food stamps,” Allen said. “It’s either eat or pay bills and it’s tight.”
It’s a heartbreaking reality for the nearly 167 Glendale families the food bank serves every day.
Jussane Goodman with the Phoenix Rescue Mission says the high cost of living and soaring food prices have amplified the number of people coming to them for help, forcing families to make difficult choices.
“The choice of paying their rent, the choice of putting gas into their vehicles,” she said.
High inflation and expiring pandemic-related assistance have more people turning to food assistance, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Numbers show that 17 million households reported not being able to afford enough food last year. That’s a sharp increase from the year before and even 2020.
Goodman says long gone are the days when food banks were solely helping families in emergency situations. Now, they’re sustaining them.
“There has definitely been an apparent increase in families who are coming to receive and uptick post-pandemic,” she said.
For Allen, he’s seen that increase firsthand as the parking lot across the street grows more crowded with families waiting to load up.
“If you have to go to a food bank, you have to swallow your pride,” he said. “Don’t think of yourself. Think of your family.”
