By AMY ADAMS
news@readthereporter.com
According to a recent report from 24/7 Wall St., Hamilton County is by far the wealthiest county in Indiana, followed by Boone and Hendricks, with a median income of nearly $115,000 and an average home value of more than $350,000. For reference, the average annual income in the state is less than $70,000.
“The prices of homes in Hamilton County are at a premium due to the great quality of life of our communities and schools,” said Kurt Wanninger, Westfield City Councilmember.
Map the Meal Gap put out by Feeding America offers what is, perhaps, a more surprising statistic: there are more than 22,000 food insecure individuals in Hamilton County – many are children.
“That’s mind-boggling for me,” said Carrie Larrison, vice president and director of special projects at Open Doors in Westfield. “I’m sure it’s mind-boggling for others as well because there’s a lot of wealth in Hamilton County.”
Wanninger, who also serves as vice president and director of operations at Open Doors, explains that many who own homes may be stretching their budgets to live in Hamilton County.
“This along with wages not keeping pace with the rise of inflation and increase in cost of rentals are just a few contributing factors impacting higher levels of food insecurity within Hamilton County,” Wanninger said.
Larrison said that in years past, Open Doors might see an increase of 20 to 30 clients a year.
“Last year, we saw a much larger growth,” Larrison said. “It wasn’t unusual to have 15 to 20 new clients a month. Over the holidays, we went up by 80 to 90 people. And even during COVID we never saw an increase like that. There were so many families that were barely making ends meet. When the cost of living increased drastically, those families that were right on the edge just couldn’t pull it together anymore.”
Gleaners, the largest food bank in Indiana, also reported a spike in the number of households needing help, citing the peel away of COVID-19 pandemic-related aids, such as increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility and benefits, Advance Child Tax Credits, and school feeding programs.
“Most of the people that are coming to food pantries are working,” Larrison said. “Some of these people fill needs that happen to be low paying jobs.”
Anita Hagen, executive director with Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank, said that one statistic shows that more than 70 percent of the food insecure in Hamilton County are ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program due to their income levels. Hagen went on to explain that the average cost of a meal is $2.84 in Indiana, but in Hamilton County, that meal would cost $3.59. That 75-cent difference adds up over multiple days of multiple meals for multiple family members.
“Then add in the cost of housing and transportation, and the issues are pervasive,” Hagen said.
Some families are one layoff, one car accident, one medical bill, one raise in rent away from food insecurity.
“It’s not our place to judge,” Hagen said. “It’s our place to help.”
While Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank doesn’t run a food pantry, the organization works to provide produce, meat, and dried goods to the food support network in order to keep food pantry shelves stocked year-round. HCHFB works with organizations like Gleaners and the Hamilton County Food Resource Coalition, which was started by the Hamilton County Community Foundation. Hagen also points out that restaurants and stores like Kroger work with organizations like Gleaners and HCHFB to redistribute day-old and close-to-expired food to pantries in Hamilton County at even higher rates than in Marion County.
You have probably also seen the yellow Feeding Team food pantries scattered across Hamilton County. Feeding Families outdoor Free Food pantries is the corporate charity of TalentLogistiX, Tech Trades and PinPoint Resources. The idea behind these yellow boxes is “neighbors helping neighbors” by providing 24-7 access to the pantries so that people can “take what you need” and “give what you can.” Find more information at feedingteam.org.
“We are so fortunate in Hamilton County that we have numerous food pantries,” Larrison said.
A food pantry, according to Hagen, can be a support for people without judgment.
“Everyone should have the ability to have their choice of healthy food,” Hagen said. “That should be a given, but we can only do that by working together. It takes the community.”
Fishers mayor fights food insecurity
In the week leading up to the May 11 Stamp Out Hunger initiative, The Reporter spoke with Fisher Mayor Scott Fadness about his own work to fight food insecurity in his community.
Fadness
“The biggest initiative that I personally throw my support behind is the Fishers Youth Assistance Summer Meals program,” Fadness said. “There are 700 kids roughly that are on free or reduced lunch in the City of Fishers, and every summer they go home, and their source of meals goes away during that timeframe when they would normally be able to get at least a decent meal at school.”
Fadness said he contributes personally to the program and also raises money from the private sector to help families in need.
“We are able to raise private funds to ensure that every week families can come pick up a week’s worth of food to help get those kiddos through the summertime,” Fadness said. “That’s a project that we started a number of years ago and it’s grown. We started with probably 100 or 200 clients – so to speak – and we’re now up to 700.”
Fadness told The Reporter he and his staff volunteer time to pack meals at least twice each year.
“I also contribute financially and try to support that cause every year because I just think it’s so important that little guys don’t go hungry,” Fadness said. “Here in our community where we’re fortunate to have an abundance in our city compared to most, and the idea of kids going home hungry just doesn’t sit well with me. So that’s a program that we’ve been very supportive of over the years and we’ll continue to do so.”