The wait and the hope. People wait in food distribution lines for HOURS with the hope that there is enough to go around. The trailers hold approximately 44,000 pounds of food and sometimes that just isn’t enough for the number of people in need. In order to understand people’s truths, we have to know their stories. People often think that those who need our help do not try, but in reality, those who need our help typically wait too long because they are deeply committed to solving their problems themselves. Did you know that 47% of the people we serve are employed?

Dr. Luke Shaefer, this week’s insightful guest, set out to understand those who are trapped in poverty and held captive by food insecurity. Dr. Shaefer wears many hats - he is the Director for the Poverty Solutions Center, a professor at the University of Michigan, and serves as a Special Counselor for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to Director Gordon and Lewis Roubal, Chief Deputy Director for Opportunity at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Poverty is often the result of several interlinked systems that do not function as they should for struggling families. Understanding the impact one section at a time enables one to understand the system in a more comprehensive way and effectively help more people.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our food banks are distributing record amounts of food to families in need... Within every box of food, there is HOPE. The power of taking hunger off the table is demonstrated in the freeing of people’s minds of the toxic stress of food insecurity and allows them to focus on their successes and what could be.

Hunger is a challenge in our society that can unite us. If we keep people interested in solving this problem, we will create a food secure state.