The Flor Store is the only place with food that this single mother of two can buy from Lake Worth, Florida. Those are good days.
There are bad days when she is so penniless that she has no choice but to run out of items.
“It often happened that I had to steal food, even if it felt bad, to make sure my kids could eat,” Belle, 23, told CNN. “Sometimes there’s nothing I can do.”
Bell is truthful and open when talking about hunger. Because that is its reality.
And this is the reality of millions of families with children across the country in this epidemic era.
It is higher than food levels in children at the peak of the Great Depression.
“Food security means that families don’t have enough food to provide an active and healthy lifestyle, but most importantly they don’t have enough resources to go out and buy more,” said Lauren Bauer, a colleague at The Hamilton Project . CNN
“Food insecurity always increases when there is economic weakness. The shocking thing for her this time is that it affects children and families with children inconsistently.”
Many schools across the country are back in session – but from a distance.
“These families are under stress, and it is the duty of Congress to target these families as they monitor the next phase of covid-related assistance,” Bower said.
Parents say school meals are not enough
After months behind the rent and bills, Bailey said the government and local authorities have done little to help families like his.
Bailey told CNN, “Food stamps aren’t enough. We’re out of it fast.” “Even the food they got from school wasn’t enough to feed a child. Usually it’s a bun and a piece of meat and cheese on it, maybe a bag of raisins. It’s great, but it’s not enough to keep my kids whole.”
Some children do not even deserve help
For Bell, every attempt to get help has been met with rejection. Children under the age of 5 who were not in school did not receive any dietary assistance through the Epidemic-EBT program, meaning their 8-month-old and 2-year-old daughters could not qualify.
“I was turned down for the EBT program because my kids just weren’t in school in Daycare,” Bell said. “I just got a WIC, and a stimulus check. My application for unemployment has been pending for months. Our lives are nothing but stress.”
Both mothers say they are always skipping daily meals to make sure their babies are fed. Bell, who was laid off from a data entry job, has lost nearly પા 20 in the past two months from his irregular diet.
Ramen noodles, eggs, milk and plain pasta have become the staple of the family meal. Proteins like beef, fish and chicken have become a luxury, neither can the family afford.
“It feels like single parents like us are in a sinking ship without life boats, and when the ship goes down we can catch something but nothing more.” “It makes you feel helpless when you get nothing for whatever you try and whatever help you try to provide.”
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