For Immediate Release
June 16, 2010
Contact: Nathan Flood
717-787-4420
Back

A Conversation with Senator Brubaker

Older Pennsylvanians May Be Eligible For Hunger Assistance

Hunger is a serious problem for individuals and families in every community in the state, especially for many older Pennsylvanians who are living on a fixed income. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture offers a program to help provide healthy foods to low-income older adults who are at risk for food insecurity.

The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) provides healthy food options, such as canned fruits and vegetables, pasta, poultry, canned meats, milk and juice to older Pennsylvanians who meet income requirements. To be eligible for the program, applicants must be age 60 or older and have a monthly household income of less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or around $1179 for a single individual. Families can add an additional $405 in monthly income for each additional member of the household, so a household with two individuals could earn up to $1584 monthly and be eligible for the program.

Pennsylvania provides more than $19 million in healthy foods to older state residents every month through the program and serves an estimated 14,000 senior citizens. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently provided additional funding for Pennsylvania to add more than 18,000 older state residents to the program. As Chairman of the legislative Hunger Caucus, I am very pleased that our state will be able to provide assistance to more than twice as many low-income seniors through the expansion of this program.

To learn more about CSFP or to apply for the program, residents should contact their local food bank. Lancaster County residents should contact the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank by calling (717) 564-1700 or visiting www.centralpafoodbank.org. Chester County residents can contact Philabundance by calling 1-800-319-3663 or visiting www.philabundance.org. 

This program is vital for many older Pennsylvanians who are struggling to make ends meet, and I am thankful that the Department of Agriculture will be extending assistance to more seniors. Applicants must sign up by June 30 to be eligible for the program, so I would encourage older Pennsylvanians and their loved ones to learn more about the program by contacting their local food bank as soon as possible.

SeniorLAW Center Offers Free Legal Advice for Older Pennsylvanians

The nonprofit SeniorLAW Center offers free legal advice and representation to help older Pennsylvanians with a wide variety of legal issues. Pennsylvanians age 60 or older can receive information on legal issues by calling the SeniorLAW Helpline at 1-877-727-7529. Seniors can leave their name and number on the hotline, and a legal expert will return their call within 1-2 business days.

The SeniorLAW Center has a staff of legal experts available to offer information on a host of issues that affect senior citizens, such as housing, grandparent custody and visitation, long-term planning needs, financial exploitation and elder abuse. While many of these services are targeted to the most financially needy older Pennsylvanians, the SeniorLAW Center offers free introductory counsel, information and referral services to all older Pennsylvanians regardless of income.

The SeniorLAW Center also offers a number of educational resources to help seniors learn more about their legal rights and how to avoid scams and other crimes. More information on the SeniorLAW Center is available online at www.seniorlawcenter.org.