Most of the people that come to Oneida County Social Services need help with affordable housing.
That basic need is followed closely by those seeking food assistance, says Social Services Director Mary Rideout.
That need has only gotten more strained now that the pandemic-era extra benefits for the Food Share program have ended.
“They’ve gotten used to that additional benefit. With the increased cost in food it’s been very beneficial to them. So folks are now starting to be concerned on how they are going to feed their families,” said Rideout.
On average in 2022, 3,784 people in Oneida County used food share benefits per month.
That’s about 10% of the county’s population and up by more than 500 people from 2019.
Rideout says with so many Americans that live paycheck to paycheck, food insecurity can happen to anyone.
“It’s our working families. It’s our older adults. It’s getting to the end of that week or the couple of weeks after you get your social security check for whatever it is and you don’t know where you’re going to get the money to buy your food for that coming week. I think that’s food insecurity. You don’t know where your next meal is coming from. You’re not sure how you’re going to provide for your family,” she said.
To help people get a better picture of what food insecurity looks like and the challenges to combat it in the Northwoods, Oneida and Vilas County Social Service, Nicolet College, and Feed Our Rural Kids are hosting a food insecurity conference.
Rideout says the conference has several goals.
“Increasing the awareness that food insecurity can happen to anyone and really being able to talk to all of the partners that deal with food insecurity and collaborate. Talk about what we can do to increase the awareness, reduce the stigma, and really just make sure that people in Oneida and Vilas Counties aren’t food insecure, that they have the resources,” said Rideout.
The conference will be May 4th from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at Nicolet College. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.
There will be five speakers throughout the morning to give different perspectives on food insecurity in the Northwoods.
