<\/p>\n
Margaret Brooks doesn\u2019t know what to say to her great-niece and nephew when they ask her why she\u2019s not eating with them at the dinner table. \u201cThey know the food is not there,\u201d she said \u2013 so she tells them she\u2019s not hungry.<\/p>\n
Brooks and her family are skipping medications because they can\u2019t afford them, she said. The adults in the household are missing meals to ensure two children are fed, she said. They\u2019ve been looking for jobs \u2013 her nephew got one, but she and her niece have been looking since they moved here in July.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s been working with La Plata County Human Services for months trying to get support from the Colorado Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and insurance from Medicaid for the five people in her household, but a monthslong backlog has left her without benefits, she said.<\/p>\n
A secretary at Human Services told Brooks that short staffing and a technical glitch have caused a monthslong backlog and suggested she go to Durango Food Bank, Brooks said.<\/p>\n
The number of clients at the Durango Food Bank has doubled since September, putting a strain on the nonprofit as it struggles to keep up with demand, said Executive Director Sarah Smith.<\/p>\n
The Durango Food Bank served a record 170 households with food in a five-day period this month, Smith said. The nonprofit has purchased food since September to supplement donations and provide enough food to people who need it, something the organization hasn\u2019t had to do in years, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had nearly a semitruck (filled with food) come in, and it all went out in a month,\u201d Smith said of food delivered from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. \u201cThat only equaled about three meals per person. If 18,000 pounds feeds clients for three meals, we\u2019d have to have four times that (to meet the need).<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s like four or five trucks, and we don\u2019t have space or capacity to store that volume of food,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not able to plan ahead or receive enough food to feed the people coming in. It\u2019s kind of a catch-22.\u201d<\/p>\n