Hunger Facts
Of the approximately 776,00 residents of San Francisco, 150,000 are living
at or below 150% of the federal poverty line, which means living with the
daily threat of hunger.
This translates to 1 in 4 children and 1 in 5 adults. Hunger is spread
across gender, ethnic, geographic and age groups.
Of the 150,000 individuals, 27,159 are seniors. 150% of the poverty line
for a senior living alone is $14,700 a year, not enough to pay rent,
let alone to purchase food, prescription medicines and other critical
items. A senior couple is not much better off, living at or below $19,800.
Obviously the cost of living in San Francisco is much higher than the
rest of the nation, but the poverty level is a short-sighted national
concept that doesn't take into account regional cost of living differences.
Below are the 2000 census statistics on the two key neighborhoods we are
currently serving with through Groceries for Seniors:
Chinatown/Northbeach
- Total residents - 60,000
- # living with the threat of
hunger - 1 in 4 Individuals
- #
living at or below 150% of poverty - 15,408
- Seniors living at or below 150% of poverty - 5,072
Western Addition/Haight
- Total residents - more than 80,000
- # living with the threat of hunger - 1 in 5
- Individuals living at or below 150% of poverty - 17,006
- Seniors living at or below 150% of poverty - 3,360
