FACTS ABOUT HUNGER AMONG SENIORS

AND RIVER CITY COMMUNITY SERVICES

For more information, contact: Eileen Thomas, Executive Director

916-446-2627 x3001 or rccsa@sbcglobal.net

www.rivercitycommunityservices.org

January 2009

River City Community Services provides nutritionally balanced food and emergency housing aid to anyone in need in Sacramento County. Eleven percent of those who come to RCCS are seniors.

Seniors are particularly hard hit by poverty, and most recently, the mortgage crisis

• Seniors are being hit hard because their fixed incomes are not keeping pace with rising costs, and because they cannot replace the value of depleted savings. In addition, state payments to poor seniors are on the chopping block as a response to the budget crisis.
• If California cuts its Supplemental Security Income payments to the poor elderly, as proposed, these seniors will see a drop of as much as $77 per month; nutrition will suffer. The proposal to roll back In-Home Supportive Services, the program that provides meal preparation and other household help to frail, elderly adults, would also have a damaging effect on the many isolated seniors living in our community.
• As of July 2008, nearly a quarter of older Americans (22.4 percent) had family incomes below 150% of the federal poverty line. The federal poverty measure underestimates the elderly poverty rate because it gives no consideration to healthcare costs; many elderly cannot pay basic living expenses unless they skip medications and medical care.
• Elderly women are far more likely to be poor than men. Thirteen percent of women over 75 years old are poor, compared to 6% of men (ibid). Women end up poorer due to a lifetime pay gap compared to men, occupational choices with lower pay scales, and time spent out of the workforce raising children or caring for elderly parents.
• Only 30-40% of eligible seniors participate in the federal food stamp program.
• A first-ever analysis of data on the mortgage crisis by age, reported in September 2008, revealed that more than 684,000 homeowners 50 years old and older were delinquent, in foreclosure, or lost their homes during the six months ending in December 2007. Older Americans have the least ability to recover from the loss of a home.
• Older people are more affected by higher utility costs, since these costs absorb a greater percentage of their income. According to a study reported by the National Energy Assistance Director’s Association, 70% of low-income households reported that they have reduced their purchases of food due to higher home energy prices.

Hungry, poor seniors are Sacramento’s dirty little secret

• Seniors often isolate themselves due to mobility challenges, lack of transportation, and fear, keeping their poverty and lack of food hidden from the public eye. The best local study of “food insecurity”, “Hunger Hits Home” published by the Sacramento Hunger Commission, noted that the elderly were under-represented in the study because of transportation difficulties that make it difficult to take advantage of emergency food assistance programs.

Lack of adequate nutrition takes a major toll on seniors’ health and wellbeing :

• Poor elderly people who are food insecure have less healthy diets and are more likely to suffer from being underweight, a condition that can lead to a downward health spiral.
• The negative effects of food insecurity are greatest for the Hispanic elderly (ibid).
• Food assistance has been shown to help reduce the likelihood of depression among poor elderly people.

More people – including seniors - are turning to River City Community Services, where need is up nearly 50% from two years ago

• River City Community Services provided a three-day emergency food supply to 36,305 people who needed help to feed themselves or their families, of which 11 percent were seniors. In 2007, RCCS fed nearly 30,000 people (29,122 clients), including 2,800 seniors.
• Fifteen seniors were also provided with utility assistance in 2008 to keep the heat on and the lights burning.
• Many of those who have sought food assistance have never done so before.

Emergency food from RCCS helps seniors avoid trading off food for medicine, medical care and basic living expenses

• By providing clients with a three-day nutritious emergency food supply up to once a month, hungry people, including seniors, are able to avoid skipping meals or cutting the nutritional value of what they eat, especially since cost of healthy foods (like lean meats and vegetables) has risen 20% in the past two years.
• Assistance with the food budget allows clients to meet critical expenses like paying for medicine, shelter and heat.

How RCCS works

• RCCS receives donated and surplus food and purchases important staples, like dairy products, on a bulk basis. The cost of those basics has risen 35% from 18 months ago.
• Clients go through an intake process that confirms their income qualifies for aid. It also limits use of the food closet to once a month, and determines any special dietary requirements or limitations on their food preparation abilities.
• The organization distributed 333,672 pounds of food in 2008.
• Hundreds of committed volunteers donated 11,025 hours of service in 2008, stocking shelves and filling orders for three-day food supplies.
• Funding for the organization comes almost entirely from donations. Most donations come from individuals who open up their hearts and wallets.

Cawthorne, Alexandra. “Elderly Poverty: The Challenge Before Us.” Center for American Progress, July 30, 2008 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/07/elderly_poverty.html

Shelton, Alison. “A First Look at Older Americans and the Mortgage Crisis.” AARP Public Policy Institute, September 2008. http://www.aarp.org/research/credit-debt/mortgages/i9_mortgage.html

Moses, Joy. “Winter Forecast: Weather, Home Heating, and the Impact on Low-Income Families,” Center for American Progress. October 9, 2008.

Bhattacharya, Jayanta, Currie, Janet and Haider, Steven, “Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Nutritional Outcomes in Children and Adults,” http://www.econ.ucla.edu/people/papers/currie/more/bch_oct03.pdf

Kirang, Kim and Frongillo, Edward, “Participation in Food Assistance Programs Modifies the Relation of Food Insecurity with Weight and Depression in Elders,” 2007 American Society for Nutrition J. Nutr. 137:1005-1010, April 2007 http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/137/4/1005