Food assistance need rises From the cover
The overview
Percentage of Montgomery County households under the ALICE threshold in 2022
The ALICE (asset limited, income restrained and employed) threshold represents the minimum income level necessary for household survival, based on costs for everyday essentials like housing, transportation, food and child care.
Number of households
Percent below threshold
The Montgomery County area grew24.3% between 2018-2023, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Marlow said she believes that growth has played a large part in the increase in food assistance demand in the area. In November, the MCFB served a record-high 97,000 clients , Marlow said. The CAC has served 4.2 million pounds of food to more than 42,000 county residents since 2021, Huffine said. Another area nonprofit, Meals on Wheels of Montgomery County, currently has over 1,000 clients and has had nearly 4,000 total clients since 2015. “Rising costs for housing and essential needs have forced families to make increasingly difficult decisions,” Huffine said. According to 2022 data from United for Alice, in all eight ZIP codes that make up Community Impact’s Conroe and Mongomery coverage area, more than a quarter of households earn below the minimum income needed for household survival. ZIP codes 77301 and 77306 account for over 16,000 households in the county and have at least 50% of households below the ALICE—asset limited, income restrained and employed— threshold.
45
77356
77318
77303
44%
35%
36%
13,179
8,003
7,235
75
77316
77304
77301
105
55%
27%
46%
16,525
11,240
10,469
249
77302
77306
42%
51%
6,458
5,017
SOURCE: UNITED FOR ALICE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
N
The action taken
Also of note
To address the need for food assistance, the MCFB’s $6.5 million expansion will help provide over 1 million more meals a year, Marlow said. The food bank has large amounts of fresh produce available but hasn’t been able to take it all in due to space constraints. The expansion, however, will increase the size of the produce rescue center by four times, Mar- low said, keeping more food waste out of landfills and providing healthy foods that are otherwise expensive to get. “We were at a point where we were not able to accept the abundance of fresh produce that was available to us,” Marlow said. “We were actually leaving donated food on the table.” The expansion is set for a late spring opening, Marlow said.
The CAC, Huffine said, also addresses long-term stability by connecting clients to case managers through its Hand Up Initia- tive and has introduced pop-up produce markets to ensure families have access to nutritious food options. “The need in our community will always be greater than the resources available,” Huffine said. “But that won’t stop us from doing everything we can to serve those who turn to us for help.” Carrie Watkins, president of Meals on Wheels Montgomery County, said the average time a client stays on its service is five to 10 years. Beyond its meal delivery service, Meals on Wheels Montgomery County also runs free, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant buses to transport senior citizens in the county, Watkins said.
The food bank expansion will:
Add 18,100 more square feet to the nonprofit’s facility
Add 3,000 square feet to the produce rescue center
Increase freezer and refrigerator storage space by 43%
Add over 5,000 square feet of food sorting workspace and storage
Double as an event space which allows for 80+ people
SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY FOOD BANK/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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