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Food pantries and other service-oriented nonprofits in Boston and across the state are getting ready for what could be a perfect storm of increased demand, lower supply and a scarcity of cash as they try to stem rising homelessness and hunger rates this holiday season.
Record layoffs, tight state and federal budgets and a worried citizenry are all factors for these organizations, some of whom said they are already straining to meet residents' growing need.
"Our numbers [of food pantry visitors] are going up dramatically," said Maureen Schnellmann, senior director of food and nutrition for the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay.
Schnellmann said she expects that trend to continue, saying that the Red Cross' food pantry in Roxbury may well see an increase of over 30 percent in visitors and families needing meals in the coming fiscal year.
"In the fiscal year for 2008, which ended June 30 for us, we had about 72,000 [visitors]," she said. "In this fiscal year, we're expecting between 90,000 and 95,000."
The Red Cross isn't the only nonprofit struggling to keep state residents from going hungry. A recent survey of area food pantries by the Greater Boston Food Bank found that more than 90 percent of the agencies surveyed saw an increase in demand for food during the past year and that almost half (47 percent) had run out of food at least once. More troubling, 53 percent of the agencies reported a decrease in donations.
Food is not the only concern. Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, said that rates of homelessness in the state are the highest they've been since the beginning of official record-keeping during the Dukakis administration.
However, Frost remains optimistic in spite of the bad news.
"Smaller contributors have been very generous, and are continuing to be," she said. "We haven't seen a decrease from that. When times are tough, people with limited income continue to know what it's like to struggle, and don't let go."
According to Frost, the state government is another key factor in helping serve the homeless population.
"The state does have a mandate to house people," she said.
As it stands, she said, 2,900 families are living in shelters around the state, packing facilities to their limits and even forcing the state to shelter about 640 families in motels.
"At this point, [the state] has been able to meet the needs of these families," Frost said.
But two months after Gov. Deval Patrick's announcement of significant budget cuts and spending controls to close a state budget gap of more than $1 billion, the question remains: How long will those needs be met?
One agency affected by the budget cuts was Horizons for Homeless Children, which provides educational resources for preschool-aged homeless youth and helps families get back on their feet.
"It's making it a little bit tighter for us to be able to do all our programs across the state," said executive director Sue Heilman, who said the agency is "hoping [that] with conservative budgeting and good donations, we'll be able to make that cut up."
Heilman did note one silver lining. With funding stretched to its limit and Horizons relying heavily on its stable of volunteers, she said the agency has seen a spike in people signing up to help out because they know there's so much extra need.
As they adjust to the difficult financial circumstances, many nonprofits are trying to find creative ways to continue to provide services and address the dangers of homelessness and hunger.
"We need to find a bunch of cures" when it comes to dealing with the problems, said Ellen Parker, executive director of statewide anti-hunger organization Project Bread.
Finding those cures is particularly important as the temperature continues to drop. Many are worried about the crunch expected to come after the holidays.
"Like everyone else, we're really concerned about January and February," Parker said.
To help limit fallout, Project Bread is focusing advocacy efforts on securing and making the most of the Commonwealth's federal allocation.
"We're making sure Massachusetts gets all the federal dollars it's entitled to," she said.
For Parker, that means ensuring that every student eligible for free or reduced-cost breakfast and lunch is getting that food, as well as helping seniors in need to get food stamps.
"As a first line of defense, the quality of food should [be] improved to [the] highest standard," she said, adding that enrolling every eligible Massachusetts student into the federal nutrition programs will bring millions of dollars of aid into the state.
Many food pantries are also working together to make sure they're distributing as much food as they can to pantry visitors. After one company donated an entire tractor trailer of prepackaged salad to the Red Cross, Schnellmann called other area pantries to share the excess.
"That was more even than we can use," she said. "By working together, we maximize all our food."
Parker has said that Project Bread will dip into its emergency fund if necessary, but remains optimistic about Massachusetts's ability to deal with the crisis.
"I feel fortunate that we're living in a state that's a very compassionate state," she said. "I get a sense people can work together and work through the winter."
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