How to ask for help? More people experience need for first time due to pandemic
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. More Americans, including in Hampton Roads, are experiencing food insecurity for the first time in their lifetimes since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Programs are willing to help, but people need to ask first. However, not everyone feels comfortable. “This time has been unprecedented,” said Leah Williams-Rumbley, the senior director of advocacy for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore.
Williams-Rumbley has noticed an increase in people seeking help since the pandemic, including people that are not accustomed to being in need. “Hunger doesn’t have a face,” she said. “There’s no specific way that food insecurity looks. There’s no specific way that it manifests in the way people present themselves.”