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Free Meal Cards are Path to Nutritious Food

If you’re experiencing homelessness, sometimes the only way to eat a hot meal is to visit a charity meal provider.

Imagine you’re hungry. You have just enough money to purchase a box of macaroni and cheese from a grocery store but nowhere to cook it because you don’t have a home. For many people experiencing homelessness, this is a daily predicament.

If you don’t have the ability to cook or safely store food, then your nutrition is limited to items that can be eaten without cooking.

“People don’t have a refrigerator or stove in their tent,” says Jennifer Coon, who once was homeless and is now a Peer Support Specialist at Blanchet House in Portland. “They can’t even buy a gallon of milk for cereal because it is going to go bad. They are pretty much forced to shop at a convenience store. Which is so expensive and not nutritious.”

One of the only places for people without the ability to cook to go for a nutritious hot meal is an aid organization most aren’t funded by tax dollars. In Portland, there are quite a few to choose from but they are open on different days, hours, and you might need to spend money to take a bus to get to one.

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