After years of working to expand access to food aid, Arlington County’s food assistance infrastructure is being stretched to its limits as rising living costs drive up demand.
Food insecurity is nothing new to Arlington, and neither are private and public initiatives to combat it. In recent years, the county has hired a food insecurity coordinator and ramped up efforts to connect residents with existing resources.
But since the pandemic, those resources have been stretched thinner and thinner. The number of people relying on the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) — the county’s largest food pantry — has increased substantially, as inflation, rising housing costs and the end of pandemic-era benefits have made basic necessities harder to afford.
Following years of requests for more support, the Arlington County Board voted Tuesday to allocate AFAC $750,000 in one-time funds.
AFAC CEO Charles Meng said the funding provides crucial support to bridge the nonprofit’s budget gap this year. But he warned that the source of the issue remains unresolved, as food pantries across Arlington lack sufficient long-term funding to meet growing demand.
“It’s going to take a while for those families to get back to where they were … before COVID, frankly,” Meng said. “So, I expect high numbers to remain for the next year to two years if not maybe another year after that. I don’t know.”
Rising demand for food assistance in Arlington
The number of families relying on AFAC’s services has increased significantly in recent years. From 2022 to 2024, the organization experienced a 65% increase in the weekly count of families served, rising from 2,094 to 3,464.
In Fiscal Year 2024 alone, AFAC documented 31% increase in family visits, totaling 183,558 for the year, which translates to nearly 8,000 families or roughly 20,000 individuals. About a third of those were children under 18.
“I expect our numbers to be gradually going up,” Meng said. “Where they stop, I don’t know. I thought we’d never see 4,000.”
AFAC isn’t alone. Food pantries across Arlington are struggling to meet the growing needs of residents facing financial hardship.
Sally Diaz-Wells, social justice and outreach minister with Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, told ARLnow that during the height of the pandemic, her food distribution center in Green Valley saw weekly food assistance requests jump from 230 families to 620. This year, the average climbed to 875 families per week, and last month it increased further to 998 families.
“The assumption we had was that the numbers started to rise in the spring of this year and that they would stay high until the school-aged children went back to school,” Diaz-Wells said. “They have increased instead.”
Unstable incomes drive food insecurity
Meng largely attributes the sharp increase in demand to stagnant wages over the past four years. Between inflation and rising housing costs, he said it’s increasingly difficult for people earning Virginia’s minimum wage of $12 an hour to cover basic expenses after paying rent.
“They’re making the same amount of money,” Meng said. “There’s been a little bit of an increase in the minimum wage, but it’s still the minimum wage. It’s still far below what is the living wage in Arlington County. So what we’re doing, is looking at a group of people who are still catching up.”
Stephanie Hopkins, Arlington County’s food insecurity coordinator, said unpredictable incomes in sectors like construction and hospitality exacerbate financial challenges. Workers in these fields often see their hours cut unexpectedly, especially in winter when bad weather can halt work.
“Even if you get a job, you’re not guaranteed hours that you would like, and it’s not up to you how many hours you get a week,” she told ARLnow.
Hopkins also noted that many people working low-wage jobs in Arlington are immigrants who hold advanced degrees or professional credentials from their home countries that aren’t recognized in the U.S., limiting their career prospects.
“When they get here, they are cleaning in some capacity, or doing some other kind of more manual work, when they have a college degree in their home country,” she said.
Increasing reliance on food pantries
Another factor contributing to the increased demand for food assistance, Meng and Hopkins say, is the rollback of Covid-era benefits, such as SNAP and the Advanced Child Tax Credit
One AFAC client, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his privacy, said it has become harder since the pandemic to afford food on a fixed income of around $1,200 per month from Social Security. Though the 68-year-old retiree qualifies for SNAP benefits, those currently only amount to about $23 per month.
“You used to get a gallon ice cream from Aldi for like $1.69,” he said. “That same gallon is like $3.29 now … You have shoppers … just go up and down the aisle and just throw crap in [their cart]. But I have to be conscious of where my money is going to.”
Last year, a report from the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia found that roughly 52% of families in South Arlington, primarily Black and Hispanic households, struggle to afford basic necessities.
About one in five Arlington residents face food insecurity, according to a recent report from the Capital Area Food Bank. This study found that even middle-income families earning up to $150,000 per year have been facing increasingly difficult decisions about when to cut back on meals or other basic needs.
While some residents can account for higher grocery costs by shopping at discount grocery stores, many of AFAC’s clients are unable to fully support their families on even the cheapest groceries. The nonprofit primarily serves residents who earn below 30% of Arlington County’s average median household income, or less than $42,000 annually.
“It’s a lot easier to get assistance on food than it is to get assistance on rent,” Hopkins said. “So, what a lot of people do is they put as much of their money towards rent as they can, and then they reach out to the community to get help with the other pieces.”
Strained resources at AFAC
The end of pandemic benefits, coupled with rising rents and stagnant wages, have fueled a surge in referrals from the county’s Department of Human Services (DHS), according to Meng.
To receive food assistance from AFAC, individuals must first be referred by a social worker at DHS. The nonprofit received about 8,800 family referrals this year alone, Meng said.
Of those, 7,996 unique families — roughly 91% of referrals — visited the center at least once to pick up groceries. Not long ago, that figure was closer to 60%, Meng noted.
“We’re seeing more families,” he said. “They’re coming more often because they need it more.”
The jump in referrals means AFAC is now spending more on food than ever before. While the nonprofit once relied on donations for 70-80% of its food supply, it now has to purchase 60% of the food it distributes.
Fundraising efforts haven’t been able to account for the resulting deficit.
“We’re spending money, like, hand over foot,” Meng said.
Unlike some other food assistance programs in Arlington, AFAC receives no state or federal funding and relies almost exclusively on community donations and local grants.
Arlington County supports AFAC’s operations annually, contributing $852,390 this fiscal year towards the food bank’s $9.8 million budget. By October, Meng reported spending about 61% of these funds, or $521,200, and anticipated using up the remainder by month’s end due to increased demand during the holiday season.
In a letter to the County Board last month, Meng revealed that AFAC overspent its food budget by $664,629 in 2022 and $1 million in 2023 to meet rising demand. This year, the nonprofit is projected to exceed its budget by upward of $1.2 million.
However, with the recent $750,000 injection from the county, Meng expressed relief, noting that this additional revenue will help offset the it’s expenses.
“I’m looking right now at a potential million-dollar deficit this current year,” he said. “So, this $750,000 will help a tremendous amount and allow us to remain solvent this year.”
County efforts to combat food insecurity
Whether AFAC will be able to remain solvent next year remains an open question.
Meng says the nonprofit avoided a deficit last year thanks to several unexpected donations from people who left money to AFAC in their wills.
“I was able to make it by the skin of our teeth,” he said.
In the long term, the County Board is considering increasing its annual contribution to AFAC, County Board member Matt de Ferranti — who in 2018 campaigned on ending child hunger in Arlington — told ARLnow.
“As we go through the budget process in February, March, April and May, we will absolutely be considering what we need to do to meet our community’s needs on hunger,” he said.
In addition to this, de Ferranti advocated for the continued use of “mini-grants” which have helped local food aid organizations, including Our Lady Queen of Peace, restock shelves, replace equipment and hire extra staff.
In September, the county awarded $150,000 in grants to community organizations committed to providing food assistance.
While grateful for the county’s support, recipients pointed out that much larger sums are needed to sustain the current level of demand.
Barbara Young, the fundraising chair for Meals on Wheels Arlington, said a recent $7,712 food grant has helped, some. But it’s a far cry from the $105,000 budget deficit the nonprofit faces due to the end of federal pandemic-era funding.
If not filled, this gap would force Meals on Wheels to cut services for 33 of its 189 clients, Young said.
“If we cannot raise the money, many people who are now supported may go hungry,” she said.
DHS clarified that Meals on Wheels is currently only facing a $30,000 budget gap, which the county is attempting to fill.
Beyond providing grants, the county coordinates the Food Security Coalition (FSC) — consisting of public and private community stakeholders, including AFAC — as a less formal way to address inequities and improve access to food assistance.
Since the coalition’s inception in 2022, Arlington Public Schools added free meal programs at nine schools, including Wakefield High and Campbell Elementary. Randolph Elementary’s food pantry now serves over 120 families monthly, while Food Rescue US-DC redirected nearly 47,000 pounds of surplus food to local agencies.
The coalition also developed multilingual food assistance guides to support case managers and social workers, and trained 37 school staff to assist families with SNAP applications.
Hopkins clarified that the coalition’s immediate goal is not to eliminate food insecurity, but to streamline the food assistance process and make it easier for people to access.
“If you need food assistance, I want you to be able to get it,” she said. “I want it to be an experience that’s not painful.”
Balancing a budget and basic needs
De Ferranti emphasized that ensuring all Arlington County residents can afford basic necessities should be prioritized alongside essential services like road maintenance and trash collection. Yet, he also pointed out the need for fiscal prudence to balance the “moral responsibility.”
“We have competing needs, even for those of our residents who are most in financial need,” he said. “And so, for example, we have to address our homeless needs, our mental health needs, those also impact our residents. Affordable housing is also key piece, and eviction prevention.”
De Ferranti added that while the County Board is committed to tackling hunger, there will be “limited ongoing funding” available for AFAC in the future due to other competing interests, such as pay raises for staff.
“I know of some places where we could make ongoing savings, but they’re hard political choices,” he said.
Meng, meanwhile, says AFAC plans to cut costs wherever possible, even as it expands its resources for people in need.
“My objective for the next few years is to beef up our food purchase budget as much as we can,” he said. “At the same time, I’ve got 24 other workers … and I’ve got two buildings, trucks and all that stuff. So, I do have to balance things also.”
Meng and De Ferranti agree that addressing food insecurity in the long run will require big moves like expanding affordable housing and advocating for policy changes. They mentioned increasing the minimum wage and boosting SNAP benefits at the state and federal levels.
Meng maintains that unless demand significantly decreases, a robust public-private partnership with the county remains the only viable path forward.
“We’ve been able to to meet the demand with the help of the county,” he said. “If the county all of a sudden pulls out and says, ‘Oh, well, our business is police and schools and garbage and roads, [and] food insecurity is not an issue for us,’ and they pull out … I’d really be facing some cuts that are not pretty.”
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