Food Bank service helps Dover family get back on their feet

May 4, 2022

Things are looking up for Iris, her husband and their infant daughter.  Her husband has a job, and as a breast-feeding mom she’s able – for now – to stay at home with the baby. Although they have no car, their weekly box of food delivered to their door from the Food Bank of Delaware coupled with WIC benefits for their daughter make a challenging situation easier to navigate.

This couple has survived some tough times: while she was pregnant, they were homeless in Newark. They had shelter in motels provided by the state of Delaware, but they prayed for permanent housing. Since moving to Dover, Iris connected with the Food Bank of Delaware after she sought food through a local church. “They were the ones who told me,” she said.

Without transportation, she might be able to take a bus or walk to a grocery store, but bringing bags of food back home – along with a baby – would be create other problems. “How to get food home, how many bags could I carry? I’ve been getting the boxes for two months, and now I’m able to cook at home,” she said.

“We made it through. We believe in God, and we made it work. We did what we had to do. Now we are more stable and happier.  This food has been a blessing,” said Iris.

As for the future, Iris hopes to re-enter the workforce. “I want to go to work,” she said.

And in the ‘It’s a small world department. . . ‘, Iris volunteered at the Food Bank’s Newark branch when she was in high school!

To learn more about hunger-relief programming at the Food Bank of Delaware, click here!