Senior citizens go hungry in Detroit

Rising food and medical costs are squeezing budgets and putting senior citizens who rely on Social Security at risk for suffering and starvation, the Detroit News reports.

Here are some of the disturbing indicators mentioned in the story:

Requests for food and other basic needs by people over 50 have more than doubled since last year, according to the staff at the United Way of Southeast Michigan’s 211 help line.

The Detroit Area Agency on Aging Meals on Wheels program which delivers meals to people over 60 has a waiting list that means needy people must wait four to five months before receiving the first meal.

Jacqueline Morrison, interim state director of the AARP of Michigan, told the News that people need to check on their neighbors and relatives.

“It’s incumbent to check on your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle,” she said. “Make sure their heat is on and they have food in the refrigerator. Don’t wait for them to ask for help, but seek them out and ask them if they need help. These are situations that don’t have to exist if we rally together as a community.”