Working Together to Relieve Senior Hunger Nearly 9 million Americans over 50 face the threat of hunger and lack consistent access to safe and nutritious food. Alarmingly, the number increased 79 percent from 2001 to 2009 according to the AARP Foundation. SENIOR HUNGER COALITION COUNTS As a result of interventions through the SHC program, food insecurity rates in many ACCA programs dropped dramatically from July 2012 to March 2013.
Meals on Wheels
36%
6%
Center for Active Living
32%
3%
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
60%
33%
BY MAEGAN RUDD SNYDER
J
essie, 88, lives alone in a small house in Athens. Growing up with several brothers and sisters and raising eight children of her own, Jessie is used to doing everything she can to make her food stretch. However, after her husband passed away and she retired from her housekeeping job, she found that her Social Security benefits would not be enough to cover her needs each month. She was worried she would have to make the decision to either eat or have heat. Unfortunately, stories like this are not uncommon in Georgia. Georgia ranks eighth in the nation for older adults at risk of hunger, with 9 percent of seniors reporting they have limited access to nutritious, safe food, also called “food insecurity.” In Athens–Clarke County (ACC), one in five—more than 20 percent— of all ACC residents are food insecure according to Feeding America. In response to these alarming statistics, UGA and community partners worked together to establish the Senior Hunger Coalition (SHC), a program that identifies local senior citizens like Jessie who need help, raises awareness of senior hunger and creates innovative, sustainable and evidence-based programs specifically targeted to these seniors. Partners in SHC include UGA’s Office of Service-Learning (OSL), the UGA department of foods and nutrition, the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA), UGArden, the Talmage Terrace Lanier Gardens Senior Living Community and the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.
Beyond the Arch
FALL 2013
15