By Mike Templeton
Food, safe and healthy places to live, and basics like heat and water are among Urban Appalachian Community Coalition’s main priority. Right now, many people are in real danger of losing their ability to meet these basic needs. As most people are already aware, the federal government shut-down over an impasse on the federal budget will cause things like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, to lose its funding as of November 1. The shut-down will also impact the Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) program which provides assistance for mothers with young children. These are essential federal assistance programs for families all over the United States, and the loss of this assistance means legitimate and severe hardship for millions of people. SNAP and WIC are only available to U.S. citizens. Undocumented immigrants cannot receive these benefits, and many legal immigrants are not eligible for these programs. In the State of Ohio, 11.7 percent of the population receive SNAP benefits. About 600,000 people in Kentucky received SNAP benefits. These are staggering numbers of families and children who are likely to experience hunger in the coming months without some kind of intervention. Our urban Appalachian population among these numbers is going to suffer under these conditions along with everyone else.
What this means for local families
Food insecurity in greater Cincinnati has already become complicated by larger economic conditions which have impacted even the most stalwart food assistance programs. It is difficult to get reliable information right now as many official government resources have been blacked out or shut down, but according to many outside sources, nearly half of U.S. states are already in recession conditions, and the problem is spreading. Around greater Cincinnati, the Business Courier Journal reported that greater Cincinnati mirrors the nation in general economic outlook. Things are not good. It is one thing to get all of this from the news media, but anyone living around the city can plainly see what is happening. When it comes to our urban Appalachian neighborhoods, UACC Core member Nancy Laird is as good a source as one can find. With decades of experience working directly in urban Appalachian Neighborhoods like East Price Hill and Lower Price Hill, Nancy Laird has a deep understanding of what people are facing.
I spoke to Nany Laird about the current economic conditions in our urban Appalachian neighborhoods. Even as she is recovering at home from a serious illness, Nancy is still in regular contact with people who know what is happening. For example, Santa Maria in Lower Price Hill receives a donation of a box of food items once a week that is collected from the Freestore Foodbank downtown. Nancy told me that this has all but stopped in recent weeks, explaining that “donations at the Freestore are drying up, and that rolls downhill from there. Even Meiser’s (Meiser’s Fresh Grocery and Deli in Lower Price Hill) has lost some of their free food donations as a result.”
What many people may not know is that other free food programs around greater Cincinnati rely on the Freestore Foodbank as their source. When things drop off at the Freestore, everyone loses. Again, Nancy said that Santa Maria gets a box of non-perishable food once a week, and this has just about stopped: “The shelves of things like cereal and canned goods are almost bare.” These are the harsh realities as we head into a stoppage of federal food assistance benefits. The conditions are bad.
Nancy Laird spent decades in the Price Hill area at the Urban Appalachian Council and Santa Maria helping people find what they need to get by. Nancy once said her primary skill was simply knowing where to direct people to get the assistance they need. In the absence of federal SNAP and WIC benefits, I asked her if she has suggestions for people to find other ways of getting help. Nancy said, “Saint Vincent De Paul on Bank Street can often help people with pressing needs, and they are often able to provide financial assistance for things like utility bills.” Nancy also said many neighborhood churches will help people in their neighborhood. She emphasized, “You do not need to be a member of these churches to get help. If you live in the neighborhood, many of them will help you if they are able. Holy Family in East Price Hill provides this kind of assistance.” These are things many people may not be aware of and may make all the difference in the days and weeks ahead.
The work of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition begins with making sure people can meet their most basic needs. The federal shut-down now threatens to stop things like SNAP and WIC benefit for poor and needy families and children. This comes at a time when people are already struggling. Helping urban Appalachians make it through difficult economic times was part of the impetus to begin advocacy on behalf of urban Appalachians. In our present times, UACC is active in our neighborhoods with everyone who now defines these neighborhoods. We will continue to offer updates on resources as they become available.
Information on and contact information for the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul can be found at this link: svdpcincinnati.org.
A link to the Freestore Food Bank’s list of free food distribution centers can be found here: freestorefoodbank.org/upcoming-food-distributions.
Michael Templeton is a writer, and independent scholar. He is the author of The Chief of Birds: A Memoir published with Erratum Press and Impossible to Believe, published by Iff Books. He is also the author of Collected Apoems, forthcoming from LJMcD Communications, The Ohiomachine, forthcoming from Dead Letter Office/Punctum Books, and Nod: On Digital Exile forthcoming with Erratum Press, the Academic Division. Check out his profile in UACC’s Cultural Directory. He has published numerous articles and essays on contemporary culture and works of creative non-fiction as well as experimental works and poetry. He lives in West Milton, Ohio with his wife who is an artist.