Poor economy strains homeless shelters, food pantries
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 07/29/2009
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The economy has pummeled Tippecanoe County families, which has in turn put stress on local shelters and food pantries.
The Salvation Army family shelter has had an average increase of 100 residents annually for the last two years, said shelter director Lillie Carty.
“Every year we have a lot more on our waiting list,” she said.
By contrast, the Lafayette Urban Ministry shelter, which typically serves mentally ill, physically disabled or substance-addicted homeless people, has seen a decrease in traffic from last year, and a drop of about 50 in residents from 2007 to 2008, said shelter director Joyce Fasani.
“A lot of people here are disabled and have to wait for social security,” she said. “They sell everything they have and they end up in a homeless shelter with nothing.”
Although the ministry shelter has not seen an increase in residents, the ministry’s food pantry has struggled to keep up with demand. Fasani said the pantry recently provided food to 167 people in two hours, and need has been so high that the pantry has been forced to limit its activities.
“The food pantries are being really hurt right now because the food stamp program has been outsourced,” Fasani said. “They have had so many glitches, we’re seeing people who qualify for the program having to wait one to three months without food stamps.
“That’s why we’ve seen whole families hitting the food pantries. These people are in abject poverty. When they call down there (to food stamp claims) there’s really no one for them to talk to. There’s thousands of them being lost.”
Lafayette shelters have also had to accommodate displaced people from areas where unemployment is high and shelters are scarce or nonexistent. Fasani said the ministry shelter has recently housed people from White and Carroll counties and many from Chicago.
Carty said the Salvation Army shelter receives many calls from people outside of Tippecanoe County seeking a place to stay.
“We are the only 24-hour shelter that takes males and females in a seven-county radius,” said Carty.