Kinship is so grateful to you for being part of our mission to transform lives through food.

At Kinship we often repeat, “those who carry the heaviest burdens have the most to teach the rest of us”.

Our four-decade history walking with those on the margins convinces us that any opinions about hardship, any conclusions we draw about poverty, or any laws we pass concerning the marginalized, must be informed by our intimate knowledge of real people who carry the burden of hunger, isolation, and poverty.

We are so grateful for your generous support this year and want to share how it is enabling us to continue our vital work on behalf of the thousands we love and serve – people like Ashlynn – whom we learn from every day.

Ashlynn, a mother of five who came to Kinship eight years ago, was stuck in that vicious cycle where a few hundred dollars could trigger an eviction. At Kinship she found a mentor, developed supportive and grounding relationships, increased her hourly wages by 30%, and began achieving financial goals that enabled her to purchase a reliable car and save money for the first time ever. Ashlynn now volunteers to assist other families in crisis.

In the coming months, the federal statute passed by the 119th United States Congress and signed into law by the President (OBBBA) will affect many of those we love and serve in our Kinship community. Increased barriers to accessing governmental food assistance and healthcare coverage will put a greater strain on Kinship to make up the additional need for food and case management support.

These cuts come at a tough time with grocery bills steadily creeping upwards. Overall food prices have climbed more than 30% over the last five years. Simply put, what you used to get for $100 now costs $130.

Our team at Kinship is strategizing the best ways to increase our food and support resources as we prepare to meet the gap for families in our community. In fact, we’re already seeing an uptick in the number of households coming for food. We anticipate this trend to continue, and support is needed now more than ever.

Changes at the Federal level remind us to look at the local level, to the burdens that our immediate neighbors carry. At Kinship, it’s not what we stand for but whom we stand with that shapes us. The larger change is bound up in whether we know and care for those closest to us.

This impacts all of us but especially someone like Daniel, a senior in our community living on a fixed income of just over $1,000 a month—22% of those who shop with us live similarly. A knee injury pulled him out of the workforce at 62. Kinship helped him navigate the public assistance process, to access FoodShare (AKA SNAP benefits or food stamps) and get enrolled in Social Security, among other assistance and surrounding him with the kind of love and support that a family would provide.

Kinship has become a rich place of volunteerism, connection, and trust for all of us.

But every month remains a struggle for many who often must choose between paying their rent or having enough food for their families, amid affording other household expenses. Did you know that FoodShare only covers items that are edible – so hygiene, laundry, cleaning, clothing, school, and over-the-counter medical supplies must come out of this same budget?

For our working-age shopper population – two-thirds of our shoppers are underemployed – the majority are paying half of their monthly income on rent. This is why Kinship walks with more than 50 families battling eviction each year, among other struggles many of us thankfully can’t fathom. Kinship is also grateful to connect dozens of community members each year to community resources and to jobs and training programs that help them earn a few hundred dollars more each month.

I recently sat in our center with Cathy, a personal care worker making $14 an hour. Cathy and her three small children spent the previous 14 months unhoused, sleeping in their car—or on a good night on a friend’s couch. Extraordinarily, Cathy kept her job through the whole ordeal. She came in for food but also to inquire about beds for her two young daughters. (Thank God for our partnership with St. Vincent De Paul.) Knowing they now had a place to live, I asked if she had a bed; she hesitated and then said no. When I asked why she didn’t ask for a bed for herself, she said she didn’t want it to get in the way of getting beds for her girls.

“Those who carry the heaviest burdens have the most to teach us”.

Ashlynn, Daniel, and Cathy are three examples of the thousands of community members who come through our doors to become part of our Kinship family. We could not walk with them without your vital support.

As family at Kinship, we are keeping our commitment to walking with and providing a safe place for all members of our community through these changes.  

But we can’t do that without the help of many.