QMUNITY's Food Assistance Program: Interview with Allie, Seniors Program Coordinator
- QMUNITY Team
- 59 minutes ago
- 3 min read
QMUNITY’s Food Security Fund provides monthly grocery store gift cards of $100.00 to 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors in critical need. 100% of funds raised on Giving Tuesday go directly into the hands of queer and trans elders. This year, we’re aiming to raise an additional $5,000 to expand the program as more seniors are deeply in need of assistance.
On this Giving Tuesday, QMUNITY’s Seniors Coordinator, Allie, has answered some questions about what the program means to the people it serves.
“When a community member in truly dire need reaches out to simply be able to eat, I would be able to say yes.” –Allie, Seniors Coordinator
What is one thing you wish the general public understood about the experience of being a queer senior in BC today?
Allie: Every challenge of aging, whether it be low income, housing insecurity, social isolation, etc. is compounded for 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors. Many of them have spent their lives hiding who they are from their families, communities, and workplaces. The stigma and shame around queerness and gender diversity has impacted their ability to thrive–to have steady work, to maintain relationships, or to envision themselves as being ‘successful.’ This often means that queer elders have faced more barriers than their peers when it comes to setting themselves up for old age.
As the Seniors Coordinator, how would you describe the importance of the Food Security Program for the people you support?
Allie: Our Food Security Assistance Program is a limited yet vital support system. A number of our program participants have to ration or skip meals–even with access to this program. Without the grocery store gift cards, their circumstances could go from insecure to grave, especially as the price of food steadily increases.
What challenges do 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors face around food security that people might not be aware of?
Allie: To put it simply, loss of connection can push people towards the margins, to fall between the cracks. Some of our program participants were the ‘breadwinners’ for their family. Others were reliant upon a partner in a heterosexual relationship socioeconomically. When these relationships or marriages have ended because someone chose to live their truth, that person is too often the one left to pick up the pieces. Their families may have ostracized them. They may be estranged from their children. They may have to start again, and that often means that putting food on the table becomes more of a challenge.
What does “dignity and choice” mean in the context of accessing food?
Allie: It means that participants are not treated with pity or seen as ‘charity cases.’ For it is the result of systems–the economy, inflation, and the housing crisis as well as ageism, homophobia, and transphobia, that folks experience significant barriers to accessing, what should be, a human right.
If you could tell donors one thing about the impact of their gift, what would it be?
Allie: I would tell them that they are leveling the playing field through providing equitable opportunities for people facing multiple layers of marginalization. I would tell them that their contribution has allowed a queer or trans older adult to have that much more peace of mind to budget for food. And I would want them to know that they are doing a good thing–something that helps some people access something that most of us take for granted.
What would expanded funding allow you to do next year that you can’t do right now?
Allie: Despite rising food costs and an increasingly aging population, our Food Security Fund has not been able to grow. Expanding this program would allow more 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults to have more food security. It would allow us to feel that much more confident about advertising the program and not as hesitant due to limited capacity. When a community member in truly dire need reaches out to simply be able to eat, I would be able to say yes.
