{"id":55078,"date":"2023-03-15T11:51:52","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T15:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/?p=55078"},"modified":"2023-05-16T13:46:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T17:46:04","slug":"food-insecurity-when-emergency-becomes-the-new-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/blog\/food-insecurity-when-emergency-becomes-the-new-normal\/","title":{"rendered":"Food insecurity: When emergency becomes the new normal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In July 2022, our team shot a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/blog\/food-insecurity-when-emergency-becomes-the-new-normal\/#video\">video<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/directory-of-agencies-and-projects\/service-de-nutrition-et-daction-communautaire-snac\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"organization\" data-id=\"7348\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Service de nutrition et d&#8217;action communautaire (SNAC)<\/a> in Ahuntsic. At the time, the community agency\u2019s assistant director was already saying how the situation was critical in many ways. We reached out to her in early 2023 to see whether needs were still great. What we learned is that the crisis has only gotten worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur clientele is just growing, growing, growing,\u201d said Louise Donaldson, Assistant Director of the SNAC. \u201cBetween July 1 and December 31, 2022, we started serving 335 new families, the majority of which are large families.&nbsp;We are also seeing people who haven&#8217;t come in a long time, who were getting by but had to cut back on their food expenses because their rent is so much higher now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>To document the situation, the SNAC commissioned a volunteer to catalogue its clientele. Below is some of the data collected about the groups that use the agency\u2019s services:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Workers who come to get food assistance increased by 8% in 5 months (from 14% to 22%)<\/li><li>Single-parent families increased by 5% over the same period (from 15% to 20%)<\/li><li>Two-parent families jumped 10% (from 18% to 28%)<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest statistics reflect another important data point, specifically the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/blog\/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-an-unprecedented-surge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">massive surge in asylum seekers<\/a> and their precarious situation when they arrive. Food assistance agencies are a gateway to our society for these people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"is-style-little-title wp-block-heading\">\u201cOn the ground, we\u2019re seeing an urgency to meet the basic needs of refugees and asylum seekers who arrive in Canada,\u201d said Youssef Slimani, Social Development Advisor, Centraide of Greater Montreal. \u201cPeople need food and clothing. These are basic necessities.\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Louise Donaldson is at the front lines of this new reality: \u201cWhat&#8217;s concerning is that most of these 335 new families are from immigrant backgrounds and are also very large, which means they are allowed to come to the food bank twice a month.\u201d&nbsp;The agency\u2019s regular clients are getting more and more worried. The assistant director explained how a client came to her in November and said, \u201cThere are so many people out there. Can you really feed everyone?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe situation is also very difficult for our volunteers,\u201d Louise continued. \u201cPeople have come to my office in tears because, on a human level, the situation is unbearable. Families come to get food without winter coats on. Some don&#8217;t even have a refrigerator to keep their food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the moment, the SNAC keeps serving its growing clientele and doesn\u2019t turn anyone away, and this despite a constant turnover in staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"is-style-little-title wp-block-heading\">\u201cWe won&#8217;t give up,\u201d said Louise Donaldson. \u201cWe will keep serving as many people as possible. If I can get more <em>stock<\/em>, then I\u2019ll find a place for it. You can&#8217;t choose between two human beings: a senior or someone from a newcomer family.\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"is-style-little-title wp-block-heading\"><strong>Centraide&#8217;s response<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The problems described in this article are widespread according to many agencies working on the ground. That\u2019s why we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/blog\/centraide-of-greater-montreal-invests-1-7-million-in-emergency-food-assistance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced an additional $1.7 million in emergency food assistance in February<\/a> to support 36 agencies in our network. The SNAC received $150,400 in assistance from Centraide this past year, with an additional $59,000 in one-time support to reinforce the agency&#8217;s social intervention and food aid and delivery activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"video\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Two young donors from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/the-people-of-centraide\/volunteers\/emerging-philanthropists-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Emerging Philanthropists Committee<\/a> visited SNAC in July 2022. Through their eyes, discover the essential mission of this agency in Ahuntsic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\"><section id=\"block_ad4ff07e05e349c41750b4853977e429\" class=\"video__vtx theme-block aligndefault\">\n  <a class=\"video__vtx_link popup-youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xvI9GO63gIg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n    <div class=\"carousel-content__item__video__back\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Copie-de-Miniature-YouTube-SNAC.png);\">\n    <div class=\"overlay_video\"><\/div>\n      <i class=\"icon icon-play\"><\/i>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/a>\n      <div class=\"video__vtx__title\">\n      Video of SNAC    <\/div>\n  <\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center is-style-middle-title\"><strong>1 out of 5 people receives our help. <br>5 out of 5 people benefit from it.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"block-stylised-title theme-block aligndefault\" id=\"block_98f7d8b45c5f7dcb77d351620f4697fe\" style=\"text-align: center\">                            <span class=\"block-stylised-title__line block-stylised-title__line--big-thin\"><b><font size=\"6\">Let&#8217;s all lend a hand<\/font><\/b><\/span>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:18px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons alignfull is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-499968f5 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-grey-background-color has-background has-large-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/secure.centraide-mtl.org\/registrant\/DonationPage.aspx?EventID=389613&amp;LangPref=en-CA&amp;Referrer=blogue\" style=\"border-radius:0px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>DONATE<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Supporting a network of over 375 community agencies also means promoting an inclusive, poverty-free society.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In July 2022, our team shot a video at the Service de nutrition et d&#8217;action communautaire (SNAC) in Ahuntsic. At the time, the community agency\u2019s assistant director was already saying how the situation was critical&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":55032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"1092,36230,35747,25536,29557,980","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[663],"tags":[664,666],"content-type":[493],"sector":[173],"class_list":["post-55078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essential-needs","tag-food-security","tag-poverty","content-type-articles-en","sector-ahuntsic"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 04:20:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55078"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55097,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55078\/revisions\/55097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55078"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=55078"},{"taxonomy":"sector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centraide-mtl.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sector?post=55078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}