One in 10 Lebanon County residents faces food insecurity.

This means that nearly 14,000 individuals do not have certain access to adequate food throughout the year.

That’s according to the latest Hunger Mapping project, an in-depth look at food insecurity in Lebanon County conducted by the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

The report will help assist in improving access to charitable food, better understanding of the causes of food insecurity in Lebanon County, and ultimately working to end hunger across the county.

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The report comes at a critical time.
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Extra food assistance benefits put into place during the pandemic ended in March.

Recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, will no longer see a second payment, known as the emergency allotment, in their accounts. 

Food insecurity is expected to continue rising. The perfect storm of inflation and SNAP cuts will likely put increased pressure on local food banks and pantries such as Lebanon County Christian Ministries. The projected average per person loss in SNAP benefits per month is $104 in Lebanon County.
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Here are 5 highlights from the Hunger Mapping report in Lebanon County that you should know.

Lebanon County has an overall food insecurity rate of 9.8%, with 13,750 food insecure individuals. The City of Lebanon, however, has just 18% of the population, but is home to 39% of all food insecure individuals. In particular, the northwest part of the city is experiencing food insecurity rates of over 20% while the southwest part of the city has rates between 16-20%.

Lebanon County has a low food insecurity rate compared to Pennsylvania has a whole (9.8% vs. 10.7%, but its disparity in food insecurity rates between adults and children is among the highest in the state. Children are 71% more likely to be food insecure than adults in Lebanon County, with a food insecurity rate of 14.4% compared to just 8.4% of adults. This is the 14th highest age disparity among all 67 counties in the state, indicating that child food insecurity is a unique challenge in Lebanon County. The issue of childhood poverty and food insecurity is especially pronounced in Lebanon City. Child poverty is the main differentiating factor between high food insecurity and moderate and low food insecurity areas, with child poverty in high food insecurity areas an astounding 39%.

About 25% of all Lebanon County households have incomes below 185% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) (total annual income of $51,338 for a household of 4). This means these households are eligible for federal and state-funded charitable food. A staggering 50% of Lebanon City’s population (over 12,500 residents) has incomes below 185% FPL.

- Hunger Mapping Interim Report, January 2023/ Central Pennsylvania Food Bank​

Just over 6,000 households (11% of all households) defined by the United Way as ALICE (Asset-limited, income-constrained, employed) do not qualify for state-funded charitable food in Lebanon County. These households live paycheck to paycheck and may need to access charitable food to make ends meet. The report suggests efforts should be made to ensure that privately  funded programs are accessible

A total of 17,681 individuals, or approximately 12.3% of the total Lebanon County population, participated in SNAP as of November 2022. This is nearly equal to the pandemic peak of 17,715 in May 2020 and just below the ll-time peak of 17,920 individuals at the heigh of the Great Recession in November 2012. Lebanon County specifically is in the top half of SNAP participation rates in the state – ranked 26th out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania with a family SNAP participation rate of 93%. Palmyra Borough, however, has the largest SNAP participation gap in Lebanon County, with over 1,500 individuals likely eligible but not participating in SNAP. Census tract level analysis reveals these gaps are concentrated in South Londonderry Township and the northern portion of Palmyra. 
 

For one week before Anthony arrived at FRESH Start Emergency Shelter & Resource Center, he was homeless and sleeping under a bridge.

“To be honest, I was used to it,” he said during an interview in June.

For nearly a decade, Anthony lived doubled up with relatives, couch surfed at friend’s homes, or found himself living on the street.
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For periods of his life, Anthony lacked a sense of belonging and community. Spending years in the foster care system, bouncing around from home to home didn’t leave much time to make friends or forge deep relationships. 

“It felt horrible,” he said. “That’s the best way for me to put it. Because it’s like, ok well, my mom and dad didn’t want me, so why don’t these people want me?”

Anthony did eventually get adopted and experienced stability in his new family.

“After I got adopted, it sort of settled down because my mom is the most wonderful person in the world,” he said. “She has always been my rock and someone I could always go to, even now.”

But the nagging sense of loneliness and abandonment in his early years took a toll.

When he was 20 years old, he moved out and started out on his own.

For the next decade, Anthony found himself in a cycle of employment, unemployment, transient living, homelessness, alcoholism and drug use.

“Pretty much the streets are all I know,” he said.

When he was 23, he entered the long-term men’s program at Lebanon Rescue Mission, which helped him maintain sobriety from hard drugs, then entered HOPES (the former shelter name of FRESH Start) at LCCM.

At HOPES, staff helped him find employment and provided the stability he needed so he could reset his finances and start over.

He found a room and was soon discharged. He was making money, but soon he fell back into old habits and his money was going toward alcohol.

“It was not a fun road,” he said.

The cycle continued for the next six years, which brought him to FRESH Start in May.

“The staff are really keeping me encouraged to keep going and to work every day. They are helping me with budgeting,” he said. “I always have good laughs with all of them, but they are really there for me when I feel upset or when I feel anger…it just feels nice to express how I actually feel about things …they give me good advice, too.”

Though he has fears about the future, he is hopeful and is trying to change his circumstances with the guidance and support of LCCM staff.

​Because he doesn’t have to worry about where he will sleep or when he will eat next, now he can focus on other things, such as working toward obtaining his driver’s license, working full-time and looking for a room to rent. Eventually he wants to own his own home and start his own business.
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“This is a great place for anybody that’s really wanting the help and is actually willing to work themselves, for themselves, to really want to change. It’s definitely helped me change a lot – mentally, physically and spiritually,” he said. “What more could a person want who’s really wanting to change?”
 
 

It’s 8:30 and the front doors of Lebanon County Christian ministries open for a day of service. There is a group of about 15 guests who are ready to enter the lobby for a myriad of needs. Some come regularly, some are looking for immediate relief of hunger by finding food made available through the food rescue work of LCCM, and others are requesting assistance with their natural gas bill. Wait, their what? Yes, that is correct – their natural gas bill.
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LCCM has been a long-time partner of UGI, the local provider of natural gas. Our community uses natural gas for heating, hot water, and cooking. The natural gas provider, UGI, is not just a company that gives gas and takes money to pay your utility bill. UGI is a giver! Through a program managed by the Customer Outreach Team at UGI, programs exist to aid those who are struggling to pay their natural gas utility bill. The Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act, also known as Act 201, provides protections to utility customers who pay their bill, follow through with payment arrangements, make a required deposit, and allow the utility company to access its equipment.

When a UGI customer faces a hardship, they can reach out to the team at LCCM for assistance. “We are blessed to be a partner with UGI and assist with the applications and follow-up of our community members who are utilizing the assistance programs of UGI,” states Bryan Smith LCCM’s Executive Director.

​LCCM has made a commitment to the UGI program by hiring a dedicated team member to process the UGI program applications and a second staff member who assists. “UGI provides funding to LCCM for each application and follow-up we conduct,” Smith continued. “The funding helps offset the cost of our front desk staff and provides us the ability to better serve our guests every day.”

Brian Meilinger, Senior Manager of Customer Programs at UGI shared “UGI is pleased to partner with local Community Based Organizations like LCCM to provide assistance to our customers and neighbors.  The UGI team is here to help – either through LCCM, by calling (800) UGI-WARM or visiting https://www.ugi.com/here-to-help.”
 
UGI’s commitment goes beyond the programs of UGI Operation Share and UGI Customer Assistance Program. UGI also holds annual employee giving campaigns to support the United Way in their footprint, and staff can contribute to the UGI Operation Share program.

“We wanted to highlight the partnership with UGI so our community knows we are always looking for ways to support the needs of our community,” states Smith. Beyond the UGI program, LCCM also aids with water and sewer bills and heating oil. Each program has its own eligibility criteria and anyone who is in need must call the LCCM office for more information, details, and direction for enrollment.

Smith refers to a small statement from the book When Helping Hurts, when expressing why this type of an arrangement works. The statement reads, “North American Christians need to be giving more, not less, money to help the poor. But how that money is given and to whom it is given is crucial. We need to look for ways to give money that builds up local organizations and that truly empowers the poor.” LCCM is a local organization with a vision statement that reads, “Investing in people. Improving lives.”  

She was given 30 minutes to eat with a timer put in front of her.

“I was beaten if I didn’t finish in time,” she said.

She was given huge portions and sometimes inedible meals.

“I figured out I could stop in the bathroom on my way to take my tray back to the kitchen and scrape my food into the toilet,” she said. “It began as a means of survival around age 9 and it became a lifelong battle with anorexia.

Though her stepmother eventually left and the physical abuse stopped, a new form of abuse began when her grandfather began molesting her at age 11.

This is when she made her first suicide attempt.  

Amy was unsuccessful in her attempt but told herself that she didn’t want to be alive past the age of 18.

Her father remarried, and shortly afterward Amy was reunited with her mother at age 13. However, she didn’t feel safe at her mother’s house because different men would stay the night.

From age 16 on, Amy lived with people she babysat for, coworkers, and even lived in her car.
 
She became increasingly more self-destructive as she approached her cutoff age of 18. Already anorexic, she began exercising for hours every day and cutting herself.

After coming down with a stomach illness, a teacher noticed Amy’s absence and began to see all the signs of a mental health crisis. Amy was admitted to an inpatient psychiatric hospital.
“That saved my life,” she said.

Though she continued to struggle, Amy eventually married and became a stepmother herself – something she always feared due to her own childhood experience. But her fears were alleviated when Amy connected with the child and loved her as her own.  

But six years into her marriage, Amy and her husband divorced.

“So I ran,” she said.

And she ran from Texas to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

It was here she decided to reinvent herself as a singer.

She found much success in Pennsylvania, performing with her band as the opening act for several major recording artists, seeing her name and face on billboards and even writing and recording her own songs.

“To everyone around me, it looked like I really had things together and was on my way to big things,” she said. “But in truth, it was all a persona. I got to pretend all those bad things had happened to someone else. But the real Amy underneath that persona was drowning. I sabotaged my own success.”

Amy was raped in 2005. Shortly after that her mother died. After the traumatic events, Amy was hospitalized at age 33 at what was then known as Philhaven, today known as Wellspan Philhaven, a comprehensive behavioral and mental health facility headquartered in West Cornwall Township.

“They educated me, they ministered to me, they believed in me, and they refused to give up on me,” she said.

It was at Philhaven where Amy was connected to outside services that helped her rebuild her life.

Philhaven arranged for her to stay at Lebanon Rescue Mission’s Agape Family Shelter until an apartment opened through a housing program between Philhaven, the Housing Authority and Mental Health and the Lebanon County Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities/Early Intervention program.

 She was able to utilize LCCM’s food pantry and Emergency Food Assistance Program.   Recovering from anorexia meant her body changed and her clothing became too small. She couldn’t afford new clothing, so she used LCCM’s clothing bank as well.

“I was embarrassed and ashamed to need their help,” she said. “But at LCCM I wasn’t treated like the lose cause I believed I was. I was treated with such kindness. Like a real person worthy of their time and effort.”

LCCM met Amy’s basic needs, which was foundational for her to address other areas of her life in recovery.

She used a few of Wellspan Philhaven’s outpatient programs. The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation offered her assistance in education. Compeer, a nonprofit that focuses on friendship and support for people living with mental illness, provided a sense of community in Lebanon where Amy didn’t know many people, and SARCC provided specialized counseling for the sexual abuse she endured. When she moved to Palmyra, she was able to use the Caring Cupboard food pantry as well.

Today, Amy continues to work hard in therapy, learning new ways of thinking and coping. She still has a strong relationship with her stepdaughter, and has built a strong support network. She continues to rely on her professional supports, though to less necessity. She gives back in ways she can through ministry, volunteerism, and activism.
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“God showed me I am capable of having a happy and productive life that I don’t have to give up,” she said. “I don’t know what the future holds for me, but at 50, I’m finally ready to invest in this life I never thought I wanted.” ​

Behind every phone call to Lebanon County Christian Ministries is a story.

On the surface, Tiffany Wade’s story was straight forward. Her apartment building was being sold, and she found herself with a temporary need for shelter for a few weeks. 
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But there was a lengthy journey leading up to her stay at LCCM’s FRESH Start Emergency Shelter & Resource Center, one she believes God orchestrated for a larger purpose: to offer hope by sharing her life’s story.

On Jan. 17, Tiffany is looking forward to marking a milestone: five years of uninterrupted sobriety from drugs and alcohol.
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It’s surreal to think about, she says, as she reflected on her life in FRESH Start’s resource center in September.

Tiffany has had more near-death experiences than she can count. She’s lost most of her family members to drugs and spent years of her life in and out of jail, drug rehabs and halfway houses.

“My mother was one of the first people that I used with,” she said. “She taught me how to use a syringe and prostitute, and all of that.”

During one of her prison sentences in 2011, Tiffany received the news just three weeks before her release that her mother – her last surviving family member – had died of an overdose.
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“I’ve been using since a very young age. I lost every family member except for my uncle who is still actively using back home. I lost my mother, my grandmother and my grandfather,” she said.

Not only was she grieving the loss of her mother, but she had to prepare for her release.
She was accepted into Jubilee Ministries in Lebanon in 2011. 

“I can see back now in hindsight it was definitely a divine act of my higher power because I got sober in Lebanon,” she said. “A lot of people told me ‘why would you choose to come to Lebanon, but I really didn’t choose Lebanon. This is what was chosen for me, it was the path for me.”

Tiffany was doing well in Jubilee and graduated after six months. She was presented with an opportunity to possibly work for the ministry, but a couple of months later she relapsed. 

She left the program and used the money she had saved to rent an apartment in Lebanon. But her addiction began to consume her life.

 She ended up in a cycle of addiction and prison through 2016. During her last stay in jail she said she got down on her knees and prayed.

“The reality of it was, I was in my early 30s, and I was homeless, I had no family members left I was strung out on drugs even in jail, so I said to Him simply, ‘God, if I can’t get this right, just take me,” she said. “I don’t want to live that way anymore.”
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That was the last time she was ever incarcerated. 

After her release from prison, she spent some time at a Salvation Army. She came back to Lebanon in early 2017 but had nowhere to go. 

“I got dropped off at a Turkey Hill, and I can remember looking left, and then right, and I was like, oh man, what am I going to do?” she said. “So, I stood there for a minute, and I cried, but I remembered I had this piece of paper in my bag from an alcoholics anonymous meeting on 10th Street. I have one lady’s number on this list and said if I ever needed help to call her.”

The woman picked her up and drove her to an AA meeting.

“They told me I never have to drink or use again, and I didn’t believe that because I lost everybody,” she said. “I had been drinking and using my whole entire life. I’ve used IV drugs, I I’ve smoked crack, I ran for days until my body shut down…I just didn’t think I’d make it out alive,” she said.

Once she entered recovery and began working the 12 steps of recovery, she says her life began to come together.

She became a facilitator at a local AA group, and for the next four years had worked on rebuilding her life. She got an apartment in Lebanon, she was working, and developed a good financial track record. But in 2021, the apartment building where she was living was sold and she had nowhere to go.

In the meantime, she needed somewhere to stay in August 2021, and that’s when FRESH Start entered the picture.

“I was a little discouraged in the beginning, like, how am I homeless after all these years of recovery? I’m not really financially strapped. I was just a little discouraged,” she said. “But when I came through here, they were just so kind and I was like, OK, God, maybe this is the next step I have to take. Just stay humble, keep going, and don’t get discouraged.”

And then FRESH Start staff suggested she talk to a staff member to tell her story.

“I was asking God every day…’What’s my purpose in all of this? Ok, so maybe my purpose is to be able to share my story even through this program to help others know that this is possible. I truly believe this was the link. It was like a blessing in disguise,” she said.

“God is real. And if it wasn’t for him, I would not be sober and these things in my life would not be happening,” she said.

In 2021, not only did she obtain her driver’s license for the first time and bought a car, but she began looking for homes. Though she was prepared to buy a home early into her stay at FRESH Start, the sale fell through, and she spent more time in the shelter than anticipated.

She is now renting temporarily until God reveals the next chapter. Until then, Tiffany feels blessed to be able to celebrate five years of sobriety in January.
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“You can change your life,” she said. “You can search for God and He will help you on a journey that is beyond your wildest dreams.”
 
 

Want to make a big impact in your community? We have unique volunteer opportunities in our shelter.

In January, the FRESH Start Emergency Shelter & Resource Center will be transitioning from the hotel to a single location for the overnight shelter.

We are in need of individuals who want to volunteer to support the shelter operations. We will need many hands to cover these positions 365 days a year.

The four needs are:

1. Welcome and check-in: this role will be responsible for welcoming our guests, doing the nightly registration, and receiving the guests' nightly vouchers. We need two volunteers for this each night. Arrival is 8 p.m. and ending time is about 9:30 p.m.

2. Safety check: this role ensures guests' personal items are placed into their storage bins for the night. This volunteer will do a visual inspection of bags and ensure guests are compliant with shelter rules. Arrival is 8 p.m. and ending time is about 9:30 p.m.

3. Refreshments: This volunteer will be available in the snack area to replenish snacks, socialize with our guests, and place any approved items needing refrigeration in a refrigerator. Arrival is 8 p.m. and ending time is about 9:30 p.m.

4. Overnight: these volunteers can fill one of the above positions and then stay overnight or can volunteer for just the overnight shift. Arrival is no later than 9 p.m. (unless filling another role). A volunteer rest area is available and responsibilities include ensuring guests remain indoors and in the assigned sleeping area. Additionally, this position will conduct lights out and wake guests at 6:30 a.m. It is not required this volunteer remain awake for the entire night, but be ready to support any guests' emergency needs. We need two volunteers per night for this position.

There is a short online training, which is required prior to volunteering. Also, a short knowledge quiz must be completed as well. The link to the training and quiz will be sent via email once you register.

To register as a volunteer, please complete the application at: https://forms.gle/E7ScMRP4oURuPz7G9
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Once you complete the training and knowledge quiz, you will be sent further directions to complete the application for a background check (at no cost to the volunteer).

In April, ‘Maria’ arrived at FRESH Start Emergency Shelter & Resource Center crying in pain because she felt hopeless.

By July, she is leaving the shelter crying tears of joy because God had answered her prayers for a home.

“You have to have that faith,” she said. ‘You have to humble yourself and stop being mad. You have to have a goal. I never thought I’d have that support.”

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Ten years ago, ‘Maria’ said she had everything – well paying jobs, a house, a car and nice material things, but something felt wrong.

“I’d get so angry with the world,” she said. “I was getting sick, and I didn’t know it.”

‘Maria’ was diagnosed a short time later with multiple sclerosis.
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 

Can you live without a bed? Can you eat on a tight budget? Or live without a car? Take the 30-day Hurdle to Housing challenge to help us raise funds for FRESH Start Emergency Shelter and Resource Center.  

Symptoms can include tremors, difficulty walking, mood swings, uncomfortable tingling and burning, difficulty speaking, vision problems, balance issues, fatigue, urinary issues, and cognitive issues.

‘Maria’ experienced many of these symptoms, and eventually had to stop working and had to rely on Social Security disability benefits.

But as her physical health deteriorated, she felt her spiritual health was, too.  

“Here, I’m realizing I’m not going to church. I’m not praying, I’m not wrestling with God anymore,” she said. “I was just giving up.”

She had moved in with relatives over the years.

 Most recently, she could no longer stay with a relative, which left her with little options.
She called the Lebanon County Assistance Office and they gave her three phone numbers. One of those phone numbers was for FRESH Start. When she called, she spoke to Amanda, LCCM’s shelter support staff member. 

“I said ‘I’m disabled, I don’t have anywhere to go and I need help.’” she said.
When she arrived at LCCM’s FRESH start, she was thankful for shelter but says she asked God why this was happening.

“I worked so hard in my life, why am I here?” she said. “I said God, please, I need positive people and that push.”

Fresh Start staff encouraged ‘Maria,’ as she applied for apartments and offered comfort to her in her time of need. This resulted in some much-needed rest.

“I slept like I haven’t in months. I’m being fed, and I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. I’m following the rules,” she said.

Still, ‘Maria’ struggled to find a home. Due to the shortage of affordable housing units in Lebanon County, it was difficult to find an apartment.

“I said, ‘but God, what else do you want? I’m not questioning it, but just give me that light, give me that hope.”

She kept turning to Psalm 17 for comfort.

“Protect me, guide me and take me in your wings,” she prayed. “Light that path.”

She said every time she got defeated, LCCM staff encouraged her and cheered her on, reminding her to have faith.

She had sent a text to her friends up and down the East Coast who prayed hard for her as well.

Then, in July, her prayers were answered.

“They said, ‘congratulations, we’re giving you the apartment,” she said. “I can’t stop crying because I’m so overwhelmed with joy.”

Maria credits God, prayer and LCCM staff for helping her, and encourages anyone struggling with homelessness to reach out.
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“I had to go through this because I’m just a little grain, you know. I’m not the only one,” she said. “I would encourage anybody who has been abused, who stopped using drugs, who are needy and have their kids to get themselves together and come here because not only are you going to get people who are spiritual and have that bond with God and only have kind words, but you can come here and get yourself together. This is where it’s at.
I said to God, I need a fresh start,” she said. “And look, I’m here.”