Source:Houston Food Bank
• One in five children in Houston lives at or below the poverty level
• On any given day, 33,000 Gulf Coast residents are hungry
• 498,800 individuals need assistance with food each year in Houston and
throughout southeast Texas
• In any given week, 80,800 different people receive food assistance.
The Face of Hunger in Southeast Texas
• 44% are children under age 18
• 85% are not homeless
• 47% of households include at least one work- ing adult
• 55% of adults have a high school degree or higher • 77% are U.S.
citizens
• 55% are registered voters
Hard Choices
Hungry families report that they often must choose between paying for food and
other necessities.
• Food vs. utilities 47%
• Food vs. rent or mortgage 43%
• Food vs. medicine or medical care 37%
Helping our Neighbors
• 89% of pantries, kitchens and shelters depend on volunteers
• 60% of pantries and 14% of kitchens have no paid staff at all and rely
entirely on volunteers
A National Concern
At least 13.5 million households in the U.S. are food insecure; 4.4 million
experience hunger at some point in the year. Food insecure households include
an estimated 38 million people; almost 14 million are children.