Catholic Charities warns Memphis child poverty and food insecurity rose sharply; asks council for partnerships
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Summary
Catholic Charities of West Tennessee told a Memphis council committee that child poverty in the city has increased (36.3%) and that food-insecurity affects over 20% of residents; the group described sharply reduced USDA product support and asked for introductions and partnerships to expand rescue and distribution programs.
Representatives of Catholic Charities of West Tennessee told the Housing / Public Works committee that food insecurity in Memphis has worsened in the past year, driven in part by federal cuts to USDA product allocations and local pantry closures.
Kiki Hall, senior director of community engagement, and Mark Shelty, senior director of emergency services, said the agency used to rely on USDA product for roughly 85% of its supply but that sudden federal reductions have forced it to buy replacement food at much higher cost. Hall cited a child-poverty rate in Memphis of 36.3% and said the organization serves up to 105 households per day through mobile-pantry boxes and morning food for about 200 homeless individuals. "Over 20% now of Memphis residents are food insecure," she said.
Shelty described the operational impact: where the program previously distributed the equivalent of $0.5–1.5 million of food for about $3,000 monthly due to USDA support, the group now needs about $225,000 per month to sustain operations without that product. That shift has led Catholic Charities to cap distributions and increase outreach to private donors and retailers for retail-rescue food. Shelty asked council members for introductions to agencies and officials who could help secure funding or product sources.
Council members thanked the presenters and discussed grant eligibility and timing; Catholic Charities said it had applied to the council grant program but temporarily landed on a list of organizations that could not apply because of a staffing transition in their development team. The organization described an expansion plan called "Hope Heights," which will colocate health and social-service partners on a campus to provide a one-stop set of supports.
The committee acknowledged the need for county-level coordination and for more direct rental and utility assistance programs to ease pressure on food-distribution systems. Council members encouraged follow up on grant applications and cross-agency introductions.
