Rising costs leave more Virginia families struggling with food insecurity

Higher housing, childcare, and insurance costs are squeezing Virginia families, while local groups see more people seeking help with food and rent.

NORFOLK, Va. — The Federation of Virginia Food Banks reports 42% of Virginians are facing food insecurity, with the rate rising to about half among families with children.

Shirley Brackett, crisis response director for the nonprofit ForKids, said the numbers reflect the financial pressures many families are facing as the cost of basic necessities increases.

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“It makes terrible sense that we have 40 percent of our people with food insecurity,” Brackett said.

Brackett said higher housing costs are putting additional pressure on household food budgets.

“Just last year, your average rent per household is now paying another $55 to $90 a month for rent,” she said. “Of course, that’s gonna impact their food budget. You know, then you throw in all the other things that are expensive and increasing disproportionate to incomes like childcare, car insurance, renters’ insurance.”

ForKids’ housing hotline received 1,144 requests for rental assistance in August, Brackett said. About half of those callers also were seeking help with food.

Nearly 500 people said they needed additional food assistance, she said, and ForKids sent about 200 referrals to the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia for people seeking help applying, reapplying or appealing decisions involving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Brackett said the numbers have increased since June, highlighting what she described as growing pressure on local resources following the end of pandemic-era funding.

“Our system was fragile, now it’s fractured,” Brackett said.

She said community organizations could help fill some of the gap by providing food assistance to local families.

“If we had 10 more little churches or 10 more agencies that wanted to do a food basket for 10 households, we would pretty much be able to serve all the people seeking food assistance at the hotline,” Brackett said.

The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Peninsula Foodbank are expected to release Hampton Roads-specific food insecurity data next week.