WAYNE COUNTY, PA — Since the public health emergency ended, food assistance requests from people in need, including senior citizens, have risen locally and nationally. 

So notes Holly Przasnyski, the director of the Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement (PCE).

Requests for help have increased sharply over the past few years. In 2021, the Wright Center for Community Health received 201 requests for help with food from community members in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wayne counties.

In 2022, those appeals rose to 743. From January through May 2023, the organization received 426 requests for food.

Experts attribute the increased demand for food banks and related charitable programs to the federal government’s rollback of certain pandemic-era health and food benefits, such as emergency allotments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

About one out of every 20 households receiving SNAP benefits experienced food insufficiency after this year’s discontinuation of emergency allotments, according to a study released in August by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Food makes all the difference

Elsewhere, researchers have previously done studies linking food insufficiency with poor health outcomes, identifying it as a potential contributor to chronic conditions such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.

These and other health impacts that people experience due to certain social and economic conditions are a prime focus of Przasnyski and others involved with the PCE.

The Wayne County Commissioners know it too. The three commissioners and the PCE are expanding access in two rural locations to free, nutritious food for individuals and families facing food insecurity and hunger.

“We are so appreciative of commissioners Brian Smith, Jocelyn Cramer and James Shook for seeing the value in using our Wright Center practices as distribution sites and for generously contributing via the county’s food pantry program to enable us to provide this service to vulnerable individuals and their families,” said Przasnyski.

The hunger-fighting initiative in Wayne County supplements the county’s existing food pantry program, which is sponsored by the county government and coordinated by private citizens. The program distributes U.S. Department of Agriculture items and private food donations each month at five sites.

“It is important to use funds wisely and target the need as best we can,” said Cramer. “No one with food insecurities can overcome health challenges, financial challenges and employment challenges. We are grateful to the Wright Center for this extra support.”

As a subsidiary of the nonprofit health center, PCE works in Northeast Pennsylvania on food insecurity and other non-medical issues. Those issues commonly include transportation barriers, lack of access to educational opportunities, homelessness and poverty.

Yes, transportation too

The Wright Center received 2,156 requests for transportation help in 2022. Through May 2023, 1,351 community members have asked PCE for assistance. 

In rural Wayne County, where transportation and other quality-of-life issues require broad-based solutions, county government leaders have for more than a decade been working in collaboration with residents to strengthen the county’s human services safety net and support a prosperous community. They created Wayne Tomorrow!, a planning initiative to guide the county’s development.

The commissioners have encouraged the Wright Center’s involvement in Wayne Tomorrow!, welcoming input on task forces that address issues of mutual concern, such as how to assist residents who face transportation hurdles and how to implement solutions to the affordable housing crunch, Przasnyski, who lives in Wayne County, said.

“The Wayne County commissioners are very active in trying to address the needs of the county’s residents, including those who are economically disadvantaged,” she continued.  

Spitz Foundation grant provides other assistance

The Wright Center’s PCE was recently awarded an $8,000 grant from the Robert H. Spitz Foundation to support a food donation program and transportation assistance to and from doctor appointments. 

“Food and transportation insecurities make it hard for the patients to address their medical needs,” said Przasnyski. “This grant provides us with the ability to address transportation and food needs for our patients, which allows them the ability to address their medical needs.” 

The Robert H. Spitz Foundation awards grants to registered nonprofit organizations that support initiatives and programs serving Lackawanna County and Northeast Pennsylvania. 

Information contributed by the Wright Center.