Many of our senior neighbors live on a fixed income with limited savings and a tight budget leaving them with hard choices between paying for food and paying for other basic needs such as shelter and medication. While cost of living and grocery prices continue to rise, our senior neighbors are often experiencing the fallout in ways one shouldn’t have to. No one should have to choose between food and other basic needs like medical care, but it’s the unfortunate reality many senior Americans are faced with far too often. Across the nation, there are 78 million persons aged 60 and over, and 7.1% are food insecure. This translates to 5.5 million seniors facing hunger. Seniors struggling to put food on the table often face negative health, nutritional, and financial consequences.

Luckily, there are nutrition programs like SNAP that can help lift the burden many seniors face. Even though more than 5 million seniors participate in SNAP, more than 50% of all eligible seniors miss out on participating in the program which could be for a number of reasons. Many seniors believe that if they apply for SNAP, they are taking away the benefit from someone else who might need it “more.” At Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN, we assist seniors on a

regular basis with applying for SNAP benefits they may be eligible for. We meet them where they’re at, whether that be at their senior living apartment or a community center they attend, to help educate and bring awareness to SNAP and provide application assistance for those who wish to apply. Navigating the application process can be challenging, time-consuming, and confusing, and there are many misconceptions seniors may have about SNAP due to stigma and misinformation, but we are here to dispel any mistruths and walk our neighbors through the application process.

Interested in applying for SNAP or having our SNAP Outreach team conduct SNAP Outreach and in your area? Reach out to us at snap@secondharvestmidtn.org or call our SNAP assistance line at 615-310-0752.