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Charities struggle to keep up with increased demand
From left Kenny Tschop of Proctorville, Ohio, Mike Burcham of Huntington and Nelson Worsham of Huntington bag groceries for the underprivileged on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, at Cridlin, a pantry of Trinity Episcopal Church in Huntington.
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HUNTINGTON -- Shirley Berry is starting a new life.
Recently, Berry stocked up on free food and clothes at a local pantry. She also began a full-time job and began moving into her own home for the first time.
"It's a blessing for the food and the clothes. I've been coming here a couple years, and now I'm trying to pick myself up and get back on my feet," she said while picking up food at Cridlin.
Berry and hundreds of others have been turning to local charities for help for years. This holiday season, the demand is even greater.
The Cridlin Food and Clothing Pantry was packed last week with people of all ages looking for assistance. People may take items from the pantry when they are referred from Information and Referral, which is housed at the Cabell County Public Library.
Diana Van Horn, the Cridlin pantry's director, said she is seeing many more people in need recently. Cridlin is a service ministry of Christian Associates that is housed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Huntington.
"We're seeing the folks that never thought they'd have to come into a pantry. That's been pretty tough," she said. "I've had more people break down in tears at my desk."
Jamie Lloyd of Huntington has visited the Cridlin pantry a few times and was there earlier this month with her 13-month-old daughter. She said she often finds herself taking care of several children, not just her own, and all of them need clothing.
Earlier this year, Lloyd also found herself going to Cridlin for food, after someone stole her purse containing her food stamp cards and her husband's check.
"Everything we had was in it. We had nothing," she said.
Lloyd said she left her job 13 months ago to have her youngest child. When she was ready to return, she was told she couldn't.
"They told me I didn't have anywhere to go back to," she said.
She said her husband collected unemployment for about a year, and he recently got a part-time job. She said those hours aren't always enough to justify the cost of driving back and forth to work.
Twelve churches contribute to Cridlin, which opened in 1970. The pantry also gets funds and food from the USDA and FEMA. People referred to the charity may receive five-day emergency food orders. The pantry typically serves 250 individuals monthly and is open from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
"We're there as a safety net when people are in crisis. We're seeing people a lot who run out of money or food stamps at the end of the month," Van Horn said.
The pantry also offers used clothes and new underwear, some baby essentials and toiletries. Twenty-eight-year-old Ingrid Taylor picked up everything from food to toilet paper from Cridlin last week.
Taylor, a Charleston native, has been in Huntington for the past several months going through Prestera Center's Renaissance program for women struggling with addiction.
"My drug addiction brought me here," she said. "I've been in recovery for months, and I haven't had much help, so places like this are a blessing."
Like Cridlin, most area donation centers require a slip from Information and Referral. Social worker Sidney Polan said Information and Referral is hearing more requests this holiday season.
"The unemployment, the underemployment, the low incomes in our area -- I don't think the recovery has hit us yet. We're seeing tremendous response from the churches and agencies, but there is still quite an increase in the number of requests for help," Polan said.
A pantry at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church also requires referral from I&R or from churches in the West End to receive food and other items. The pantry at 1129 Spring Valley Drive has been around for more than a decade and fed about 1,000 people last year. That number has already been surpassed in 2009, according to pastor Bonnie Boyce.
"We anticipate it's going to be more like 1,300 for the entire year (this year)," she said.
Boyce said some who visit the pantry are desperate. She has seen an increase in both professional people who have lost their jobs and families needing help.
She said the Spring Valley church supports the food pantry through donations and the pantry also receive grants and outside donations. At a recent budget meeting, she said volunteers expressed concern about the new year.
"We're going to make it through the end of the year," she said. "We'll have some left over, not much, to supply the pantry at the beginning of the year. After that we really do need donations, either monetary or food drives."
Boyce said she and others are also concerned because the Stella Fuller Settlement, another charity that provides food in the area, is closing its location in Huntington at year's end.
"That leaves kind of a huge hole," she said. "We don't want these people to fall through the cracks."
The Spring Valley pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays and provides some paper products and cleaning supplies and a limited amount of baby supplies in addition to food. Boyce said the pantry is always accepting donations. Clients referred to the church are able to get a week's worth of food once a month. Much of the food comes from the Huntington Area Food Bank, but more is needed and donations may be made by calling the church at 304-429-2931. Boyce said the pantry often needs items such as canned goods and cereals.
The Huntington Area Food Bank provides food to agencies and churches in 17 counties in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, according to executive director Jon H. Rickey.
This year, the food bank's demand is higher and donations are down, he said. He said the organization is serving more agencies this year and more people need food.
"We always remain hopeful that it's just temporary for most of them so they can get back on their feet and that the demand will begin to drop, but at this time we are busy. We are being challenged," Rickey said.
He said donations to the food bank are down slightly compared with last year, he believes because of the economy.
The Huntington Salvation Army is also in need.
At least 1,450 young people and more than 800 families need help this Christmas, according to Capt. Bob Mullins. Coats and toys are wanted, as well as volunteers to ring red kettles for donations.
Mullins said the agency also has more names on its Salvation Army Angel Tree this year.
"Our numbers jumped about 15 percent over last year, and it is going to take a neighborhood to help these children out," he said in an e-mail.
He said the organization needs donations of cash and nonperishable food as well as volunteers to help with meal service during the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Salvation Army will provide a Thanksgiving meal at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, at The Salvation Army Community Center, 1227 3rd Ave. in Huntington.
"We are so grateful to those friends in our community who have stepped forward with faithful support for families and individuals struggling to make ends meet," Mullins said in a press release. "Unfortunately, the number of people needing help keeps escalating, and the amount of public support is just not keeping pace. It's particularly sad to see those families with children who've lost their homes due to the mortgage crisis."
The Salvation Army in Huntington serves people in Cabell, Wayne, Mason, Lincoln and Cabell counties, providing food, toys and support services to more than 1,450 children and 3,000 individuals and families during the holidays. Throughout the year, The Salvation Army's programs help an additional 15,000 people. Anyone who wants to help the Salvation Army may call 304-529-2401.
As winter rolls in, many people are also just trying to stay warm.
Phuc Dinh, 24, was looking for winter clothes at Cridlin last week. She left Vietnam for Huntington less than a year ago to study at Marshall University. She said people at the pantry were very helpful.
"The first time I came here because I walked around the street and saw the sign," she said.
She's received clothes from Cridlin a few times since she first wandered by Trinity.
Like many who seek help from local pantries, 51-year-old Berry said she looks forward to a new beginning. She's been staying at the Huntington City Mission since October and is grateful for people at area churches.
Berry said getting a job was difficult, especially when people saw her home address was the Mission.
"Anything's a blessing because it's so hard to get employment these days," she said.
She said the people at local charities aren't prejudiced against the needy and homeless, even if they know about their pasts. She said people in local churches helped her to find God and get her life together.
"Without God, I could not change nothing," she said. "He changed me from being a drug addict and an alcoholic."
Now Berry has plans to start a prison ministry. She is also working with the Tri-State Literacy Council and has plans to get an education.
"I made bad choices. I was very young and dumb. Now I'm getting back on my feet," she said.
Food pantries
Here are some local sources for food:
Cabell County Information and Referral, Cabell County Public Library, 455 9th St., Huntington, 304-528-5660.
Cridlin Food and Clothing Pantry, Trinity Episcopal Church, 520 11th St., Huntington, 304-522-9841.
Huntington Area Food Bank, 1327 7th Ave., Huntington, 304-523-6029.
Salvation Army, 1223 3rd Ave., Huntington, 304-529-2401.
Spring Valley Presbyterian Church, 1129 Spring Valley Drive, Huntington, 304-429-2931.
