Groceries or Medicine?
For many seniors on fixed incomes, every month is weighed down by tough decisions: pay for groceries or fill a prescription; cover rent or keep the lights on?
And, for the older adults living in the Tenderloin, there are additional hurdles to accessing — and even preparing — healthy food. Not only are there no full-service grocery stores in the entire neighborhood, many live in single-room occupancies without kitchens.
That’s why the Food Bank’s Supplemental Food Program (SFP) is a lifeline for hundreds of neighbors in the area. The program provides monthly boxes of staples like rice, pasta, and canned goods, giving people 60 and older a reliable source of food to help make their limited budgets last.
A Lifeline for Seniors
Every month, neighbors like Ms. Mui and Ms. Luo bring their rolling carts to the SFP distribution site on the Golden Gate Greenway, a block of Golden Gate Avenue that St. Anthony Foundation transformed into a pedestrian space, to pick up the groceries that help carry them through the weeks to come.
“We depend on SFP,” said Ms. Mui. “As seniors, we don’t make money, and receiving these food boxes helps a lot. Losing access to programs like this would be concerning.”
Ms. Luo agreed, adding how she has to stretch her income further than ever before.
“I only get $50 a month from CalFresh now,” said Ms. Luo. “I’m forced to be very conservative with how I spend. It does mean eating less. Retirement funds don’t go very far after rent is paid, so help with groceries makes a big difference.”
A New Home on the Greenway
The two friends have been receiving SFP boxes for the past three years but only began coming to the Greenway early last year. That’s when the Food Bank partnered with St. Anthony’s to open this new SFP site, launched in response to Pop-Up Pantries closing and in anticipation of more people struggling to find regular access to groceries.
From day one, Food Bank staff saw how important this site was.
“Our first distribution at the Greenway brought over 550 people,” said Lena Yu, SFP Program Manager for the Food Bank. “Others had stopped coming during the pandemic and were so relieved to reconnect.”
She notes that shelf stable food, in particular, is vital for this demographic.
“For those who aren’t cooking regularly, it’s important to have food they can count on throughout the month,” Lena said. “When you’re on a fixed income, having something in the pantry makes a big difference.”
Powered by Partnership
Partnership is what makes the Greenway distribution possible. The Food Bank provides the groceries, while St. Anthony’s provides the space, lush and welcoming with trees, benches, and parklets. In the Tenderloin, where there are only 9.1 acres of green space, among the lowest in the city, the Greenway gives neighbors a rare chance to enjoy greenery and community in the middle of San Francisco.
Veronica Surrette-Fahey, Marketing Communications Manager at St. Anthony Foundation, explained, “We saw the Greenway as an opportunity to bring greenery to the Tenderloin. Many of our senior neighbors are living alone in single-room occupancies. They come to the Greenway for that sense of community.”
That collaborative and visionary spirit is why the Food Bank partnered with St. Anthony’s to bring this SFP site to the Greenway.
“The partnership with St. Anthony’s has been amazing,” said Lena Yu, SFP Program Manager. “It’s such a marginalized community, and many people don’t realize how many seniors live here. For anyone on a fixed income, this program is so important.”
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