Although homelessness and hunger in the Monadnock region may not look the same as it does in other countries or even other states in the U.S., according to the Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition, a regional organization whose mission is to support a sustainable local food system, of the 107,000 Monadnock region residents, 10,587 of these people are not sure where they will find get their next meal.
In addition, the N.H. Coalition to End Homelessness reports that in 2012, 4,825 total persons were utilizing shelters and 1,725 people were homeless.
Each year, one week before Thanksgiving, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness co-sponsor National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Schools, communities and cities across the United States partake in this national effort to bring awareness to one of most debilitating issues the country faces. Keene State College is among those participants.
Allie Bedell / Contributed Photo: KSC students gather for the Oxfam Banquet on November 11.
During the week of November 16-22, two groups on campus organized a week of various events and fundraisers to raise money and awareness about these issues.
In previous years, Habitat took on the initiative alone, but this year the two groups combined efforts.
“The community service office and Habitat for Humanity collaborated and strategized a little bit to share the planning load so that we were hopefully bringing in some new audiences, new ideas and getting more people aware that the week was happening and hopefully learning about ways that they can get involved,” Jessica Gagne Cloutier, coordinator of community services, said.
Several notable events were CANstruction, a peanut butter and jelly-making night for the Hundred Nights Shelter and the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, which is described as “the place where you sit, and the meal that you eat, are determined by the luck of the draw—just as in real life some of us are born into relative prosperity and others into poverty.”
Not only did the college take part in the week’s events, the city of Keene also had a free screening of the documentary, “A Place at the Table” which investigates incidents of hunger experienced by millions of Americans, and proposed solutions to the problem. The screening was followed by a panel discussion moderated by N.H. Senator Molly Kelly. Panelists included Donna Reynolds, director of the Conval Regional School District’s food service, Kin Schilling of The Cornucopia Project and Phoebe Bray of The Community Kitchen of Keene.
The Community Kitchen Executive Director, Bray, said on any given day up to 300 people could pass through the kitchen’s pantry. “I hope the numbers aren’t a sign of things to come but I think this winter is going to be particularly challenging,” Bray said.
The facility served 5,300 people food through its pantry and hot meal service in September alone. The minimum wage in N.H. is $7.25 an hour, a rate that some people say is a contributing factor to hunger and homelessness in N.H.
Cloutier said, “I think nationally, we suffer offering people a living wage, so while people may be working it may not be enough to balance all of the financial needs that they have. So, I think it’s probably not as simple as if we raise the minimum wage we’re going to solve it, I think it’s probably a lot more complex than that.”
However, she said that while the living wage, which is high enough to maintain a normal standard of living, is not the main reason, it certainly contributes to it.
“The Community Kitchen sees a lot of folks that come through the kitchen who are working but who aren’t able to balance the high cost of rent with paying for a car to get to and from a job, or making sure their kids can play on a sports team and have a happy, healthy life with putting three balanced meals on the table everyday.”
Cloutier explained that the purpose of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is to increase knowledge about the issue.
“It’s really about awareness and understanding, so helping bring some attention to our national hunger and homelessness issues, helping to make our community more aware of opportunities to take action, whether that’s learning by going and seeing a documentary, whether that’s doing some direct service like going to The Community Kitchen and serving a meal, whether it’s a food drive, just helping people be a part of what will one day be a solution.”
Rachel Heard can be contacted at rheard@keene-equinox.com