Real Story: “He’s constantly hungry…”

Patricia Luna lives with her husband, three children and grandson. Her Food Stamps were reduced from $455 to $195 per month when her 20-year-old son enrolled in Phoenix University online college.  “He’s constantly hungry,” she said about her son. “Grown kids eat more than little ones. Two-hundred dollars a month doesn’t get you too far.”

She says she also worries about her diabetic husband.  “There are some days he just doesn’t eat,” she explained. “He’s working or doesn’t have time to come home, and now we can’t even afford his medication because we have to use that money to buy groceries. He needs to eat.”

Patricia previously worked as a hotel lobby attendant and now stays at home to take care for her grandson. “My husband told me, ‘You need to be here for this baby,’” she said. She also helps her daughter get to-and-from Del Valle every day where she attends high school and plays volleyball.

“I only need a little help. That’s why I started coming to the [St. Ignatius] food pantry,” she explained.

Patricia brings her whole family to church three times-a-week. “That’s the only thing that’s helped us stay strong— faith in God,” she proclaimed. “God is helping in every way he can.”

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