Centretown Food Centre volunteers (from left) Hugh McCallum, Helen Scott, Ikuko Webster and Percy Campbell fill food hampers for citizens in need.
With the winter approaching, some Ottawa residents are facing a choice between four walls and a full stomach.
This is a trend local food centres may not be able to keep up with.
Officials with the Centretown Emergency Food Centre say they’ve seen a dramatic increase since last year in the number of individuals and families accessing its services. The situation is creating a crisis, says Kerry Kaiser, co-ordinator of the Bank Street centre located in the basement of Centretown United Church.
“When you’re serving families with large amounts of children, you’re dealing with a huge increase in your food costs."
The centre’s staff has also noticed a decrease in donations. Clients get emergency food once a month and if they return they get a smaller scale emergency bag.
In response to the rising number of clients, the centre will be eliminating this second service in the new year, Kaiser says.
“We’re preparing for the worst for 2014, and we’d be fools not to,” says Kaiser, warning the change will affect families the most because the second bag tends to be used for children’s lunches.
The growth in clients runs parallel with subsidized housing built in Centretown, Kaiser says, such as Beaver Barracks.
Between January and September 2012, the centre served 7,062 clients, and within that number, 848 families. During the same nine months in 2013, the Centre served 8,103 people total, and 1,197 families – a year-over-year increase of 41 per cent in families, according to centre statistics.
The centre plans to continue supporting these individuals and families by buying food in a new way, through grocery wholesalers, Kaiser says. This new method would make the most of donated funds.
“There’s no fat to trim. The only thing we spend money on is food.”
Fran Klodawsky, a professor at Carleton University with expertise in housing and other social policies, says food centres are serving a group unable to afford rent and adequate amounts of food at the same time.
A person earning minimum wage spends 46 per cent of his or her earnings on rent for a bachelor’s apartment, according to Klodawsky. She adds that for people living on social assistance, that level of rent would cost more than their entire earnings, meaning they need food banks to supply necessities.
As Christmas approaches, Kaiser says she expects many in Centretown will have a hard time paying their bills.
“We have a huge demand and with that demand comes fear. There’s not a parent we don’t deal with who isn’t worried they’re not going to provide Christmas for their children,” says Kaiser.
Looking forward, Kaiser says the city should make sure there are meal programs available seven days a week, especially as colder temperatures lead to higher heating bills for families across the city.