SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Feeding South Dakota is helping spread the word about a food assistance program available for low-income seniors in Sioux Falls.
About 21 months ago, life for an employee at the Union Gospel Mission looked different.
“My life was hectic. I was living under the bridge right down the street here on Eighth Street, and I was struggling. I was struggling really bad. I had no food. I was starving, eating out of dumpsters. I know what it’s like to be on the streets. I know how it is to suffer out there,” UGM Men’s Center supervisor Shawn Lewis Mullins said.
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Mullins turned his life around after seeking help from the emergency shelter.
“I ended up being able to save money while I stayed here. I was a resident here and an employee at the same time. I started saving money, and I rented a house right down the street, across the street from the banquet. And I got my family back in my life. My daughter lives with me now. Everything has changed for me,” Mullins said.
The 58-year-old remains an employee at the nonprofit. He says there are a lot of elderly people out in the community who need food assistance but don’t know where to get it.
“They don’t have transportation to get the box. They don’t know about the program to even sign up for the program. They’re housebound, whatever the case may be. So we’ve been working with the Salvation Army to figure out ways to get the word out to more seniors across Sioux Falls, more seniors across the state,” Feeding South Dakota community partnership manager Nick Suridis said.
Feeding South Dakota distributes its senior boxes at the Salvation Army.
Now, about a year since the launch of the CSFP, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, the nonprofit is partnering up with other organizations to get the word out and feed low-income seniors.
“Whatever the case may be, just know what your monthly income is. If you’re 60-plus, bring some form of ID with you, that way, we can verify it as you, we fill out an application. If you meet those two guidelines, we get you a box,” Suridis said.
Suridis says Feeding South Dakota is in talks with Active Generations, other low-income senior living facilities, as well as the organization’s partners throughout the state.
For more information on the Senior Box program, click here.
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