Hunger and homelessness is a worldwide problem. While our group is from Wichita, Kansas and we are traveling to Washington, D.C., there are many similar statistics and issues to both locations.
Wichita
1 in 6 adults in Wichita is “food insecure”. This means they are “lacking reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.” *
Around 60 percent of the country’s population is classified as food-insecure.
“A new study by the Kansas Food Bank and Feeding America shows that 1 in 7 people, or an estimated 215,300 people, in the Kansas Food Bank’s service area turn to food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families. This includes 68,900 children and 19,900 seniors.” *
12 percent of respondents have faced foreclosure or eviction in the past five years.
Among all households served by Kansas Food Bank agencies and programs, 60 percent have at least one member who has been employed in the past year.
47 percent of all households with an employed person, the person with the longest employment duration, is likely to only be employed part-time.
71 percent report choosing between paying for food and paying for utilities.
35 percent of these households are making the choice every month.
73 percent report making choices between paying for food and paying for transportation.
35 percent of these households are making the choice every month.
66 percent report choosing between paying for food and paying for medicine/medical care.
30 percent of these households are making the choice every month.*
Washington, D.C.
50 percent of the homeless population are people in families.
28 percent of the DC metro region’s homeless population is made up of children and youth.
12 percent of homeless adults surveyed reported having served in the US Armed Forces.
17.7 percent is the unemployment rate in the poorest ward (Ward 8) of DC; the citywide unemployment rate sits at 7.5 percent. **
DC has a higher rate of food insecurity among children than any state. 30.7 percent of the city’s residents under the age 18 live in food-insecure households.
18 percent of DC residents, or 108,732 people, lives below the poverty line, which is less than $23,492 for a family of four.
Many DC residents lack access to a major supermarket. Only 3 full-service grocery stores operate in Ward 8, (which has the highest poverty rate of all wards) while Ward 3 (which has the highest average income) has 11 full-service supermarkets.
28,707 children live below the poverty line in DC.
A family living around Washington, D.C. could earn almost $10,000 a year above the federal poverty level of $23,550 for a family of four and still be poor.
The DC metro area is home to 6 of the 10 nationwide counties with the highest median income, yet 1 in every 3 DC residents is suffering or at risk of hunger.
Approximately 1 in 4 DC children lives below the poverty line. **
Also, check out these Food Stamp Facts Here
* Information from the Kansas Food Bank website * http://www.kansasfoodbank.org/hunger-statistics/
** Information from Youth Service Opportunities Project Fact Sheet **
asbwichita2017.wordpress.com 