The old face of hunger was lower-income families or generational-poverty families. Generational poverty means a person who has grown up in poverty and now as an adult lives in poverty. This group of people knows the “system.” They know whom to go to for help. They know what agencies help with what programs. They know whom to call and where food shelves are located. They are living paycheck to paycheck and are not having their needs met by those paychecks. This is the life they know.

Welcome the new face of hunger: They are often middle-aged people who have been turning their thoughts toward retirement in the next 5 to10 years. They never would have believed they were going to be in this position. They grew up without ever thinking, “I need help.” They never knew anything about food shelves

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