Nine years ago, Barbara was the victim of a brutal knife attack in an attempted robbery.
She was stabbed in the face and the back. She survived, but was paralyzed, leaving her to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She’s in chronic pain, and says the only time she feels relief is when she’s asleep.
Despite her limited mobility and ongoing health issues, Barbara, 60, gets around reasonably well at the Classen Senior Center, a public housing facility in Oklahoma City.
But getting out to buy groceries has always been a challenge. So she was thrilled when the Regional Food Bank opened a pantry on the first floor of her building in early 2022.
“This helps me provide food in my house that I cannot afford,” says Barbara, who gets financial help from disability income and SNAP benefits. “My money usually runs out by the end of the month. So the pantry helps us out a lot.”
A wave of new pantries for seniors
The Regional Food Bank has served Classen and other senior living facilities for a long time, but mostly through mobile food pantries.
The trucks would park out front and the seniors would have to come out — rain or shine, hot or cold — to get their food.
A couple years ago, the Regional Food Bank decided to make it easier on seniors by opening permanent pantries inside the buildings. The first opened in May 2021; Classen opened early this year.
Ten such pantries are planned by 2030.
The pantries are essentially small grocery stores with lots of shelf-stable items and some fresh items, plus a freezer full of ready-made meals that were made at the Regional Food Bank. Unless they need physical help, residents do their own shopping, making their own choices.
Classen has 105 residents, and about half of them shop at the pantry every month, says Mason Weaver, special health projects manager at the Regional Food Bank, who directs the Classen pantry. All residents automatically qualify for using the pantry because of their low-income status.
Weaver notes that there is a grocery store nearby, and many of the residents shop there. But residents who are less mobile — or just prefer the convenience — love having the pantry right on-site.
“They can get the majority of what they need from us,” Weaver says.
Because of you, senior neighbors can shop with dignity.
