Kiki Hall, senior director of community engagement at Catholic Charities of West Tennessee, told the Memphis City Councils Council Connect podcast that food insecurity in Memphis and Shelby County is "pretty critical," and that her agency is seeing increased need as federal supports wane and grocery costs rise.

Hall said Catholic Charities operates a mobile pantry four days a week, distributes daily meal bags five days a week, maintains a clothing closet open four days a week for women and children, and runs a baby essentials program and an intensive Tennessee Strong Families case-management program for pregnant mothers.

"I would say it's pretty critical," Hall said when asked about the current state of food insecurity in Shelby County. She attributed the worsening conditions to several recent changes: the end of many COVID-era assistance programs, difficulty sourcing canned proteins, grocery store closures and higher food prices beginning last November, and USDA cuts in March that reduced food available from the Mid-South Food Bank.

Hall described a sharp rise in the agencys monthly food procurement costs from about $3,000 to about $25,000 after those supply changes. She said Catholic Charities had to cap the amount of food distributed daily because its budget could not sustain prior volumes.

The agency is also seeing more clients who receive SNAP benefits. "Back in July, we had about 33% of those coming through our mobile food pantry had SNAP benefits. Yesterday, it was about a little over 50% of the folks coming through have SNAP benefits," Hall said, noting the increase reflected mounting concerns among households that rely on SNAP.

Hall said Catholic Charities serves people from all 31 residential ZIP codes in Shelby County and warned of broader community effects: increased petty theft, gang recruitment tied to food scarcity, worsening health because of lower-quality diets, and students performing poorly at school when they are hungry.

On scale, Hall said the outreach front porch serves about 200 walk-up individuals who are very low income or unhoused. The mobile pantry can serve up to about 100 households a day, and the organization works with seven partner locations to distribute additional food boxes during the week.

To meet growing demand, Hall asked for support from the city council and other elected officials. "A little support from each of them would go a long way," she said, adding that Catholic Charities would welcome introductions to state and federal representatives, the governor, and corporate partners who could expand purchasing power and capacity.

Hall cited recent University of Memphis data showing an overall Memphis poverty rate near 24% and a child poverty rate around 38.8%, and said those figures underscore urgency. "We can't let people starve in the streets in Memphis, Tennessee," she said.

Volunteers are also part of the agencys model: groups can prepare hot meals, the organization needs eight to ten volunteers daily for the mobile pantry, and volunteers staff the clothing closet. Hall encouraged financial donations and hands-on help and directed listeners to ccwtn.org for more information.

Canale closed by thanking Hall and urging listeners to attend upcoming Memphis City Council meetings. The podcast episode focused on Catholic Charities current operations, rising client demand, and specific requests for municipal, state and private-sector support to prevent worsening hunger in Memphis.