“I’d best stop complaining…”

Cyrele sits in the Direct Services waiting room with her sister and the church volunteer who brought them. “I tell you something, there’s not a lot in this town for seniors. Least it feels that way.”

I’m trying to take notes while the crowd noise around us settles into a mild drone. Cyrele is in her late seventies. Diabetes may have slowed her down physically, but she’s still whip-smart and really articulate about what it’s like to grow older. “I get tired eating tuna from a can. We need to be fed. One hot meal a day could make a big difference.”

But then she grows more reflective and sighs. “I’d best stop complaining.”

The volunteer that brought Cyrele rubs her shoulder. “Cyrele, if anyone deserves to speak out, you do.” I’m still being introduced to Cyrele’s story, but I nod in encouragement and gently squeeze her wrist for a moment.

“Look, my niece and her children needed to move in with me a few months ago. It works, but no one’s comfortable. There are five of us in my studio apartment. Then I’m feeding them off my food stamps some.”

I try to keep a poker face. Maybe I succeed, maybe she sees my eyebrows elevate. She continues. “Food stamps don’t last forever, and you have mouths to feed. That’s why the Mission is so important. These food boxes and sacks of groceries you give out here make it so we can go on.

“Last month we had to choose between getting one of our babies’ inhaler and getting groceries. Good thing I know how to make syrup sandwiches!”

“And how does that work with your diabetes?”

“Doesn’t! That’s why I have so much tuna on the shelves when I can get it.”

Cyrele was one of maybe 20 or 30 seniors who were at the Mission for the food distribution that morning. You might be so used to seeing a different image of the homeless that you don’t think about seniors being a part of the mix. But according to recent Feeding America statistics, senior hunger is a real problem. About nine percent of seniors live under the poverty line. Among organizations like the Mission, 30% of client households with seniors indicated that they’ve had to choose between food and medical care, and 35% have had to choose between food and paying for heat/utilities.

If I could say one thing to friends and families about seniors, it’s that they may not speak out enough. They don’t like complaining.

But they do need action.