Join our Campaign
- Newsroom | Press Shop ¦ Permalink | Share
People Hungry For a Solution
Jul 3, 05:54 PM
BY ROBYN ADAMS
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WATERBURY — The people frequenting food pantries are no longer just the homeless; they have come to include members of the middle class as well.
On Tuesday, nonprofit agencies from Thomaston to New Haven that provide food to people in need shared their clients’ stories with Reps. Christopher S. Murphy, D-5th District, and Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District.
Sheila Garlington with the Jobs First program in Danbury told of two co-workers losing their jobs because of budget cuts. One of them is a 60-yearold woman who recently moved to Connecticut from Massachusetts. That woman now fears of being homeless.
“The clients we see are not what people assume,” Garlington said. “They have bachelor’s and master’s degrees and are losing their homes.”
The Rev. Maner Tyson of Waterbury Baptist Ministries said children getting out of high school need jobs, and their only option is to enlist in the military, where they also can get fed.
“The hunger issue is the tail of the dragon. We’ve got to stop the war and put the resources back in the states,” Tyson said.
The congressmen wanted to hear the stories of people’s struggles to take back to Washington to get more funds.
“The clients you serve are people who are hurting,” Murphy said. “We’ve got to come up with a solid plan in Washington to figure out how to help.”
The meeting was held in the auditorium at New Opportunities Inc., an agency that helps low-income people in Greater Waterbury, Greater Meriden and in Greater Torrington areas. New Opportunities receives millions in grants to help pay for home heating aid, the Meals on Wheels program and other services.
“People are getting hurt on every front,” said James Gatling, executive director of New Opportunities.
DeLauro and Murphy said the answer is to provide a more dependable flow of money regardless of who is sitting in the Oval Office.
Murphy said he might support a second economic stimulus bill that would benefit nonprofit agencies’ work in the community on a continuing basis.
DeLauro said food stamp allotments will increase and more money for the Women, Infant and Children’s program is earmarked.
Both said they will work to get federal heating assistance funds released.
Both said, however, that help won’t come anytime soon.
