Ola and Alberta have seen dozens of families move in and out of the row houses in their northeast side neighborhood. It’s understandable, seeing as these two have kept the same homes on the U-shaped street for over four decades. Alberta, who is now retired after spending 45 years working in the government and banking system, was the first of the two to move to the quaint and pristine street. She even had the first of seven children, a daughter, just days after moving into the home about 53 years ago. Now she has a small pictorial monument set up to her oldest child, who lost a battle to breast cancer. Alberta has since been responsible for taking care of that daughter’s son, who is an audio- video student at the Art Institute of Washington, D.C.
Alberta recalls when the humorous Ola moved into the home just around the block. Ola spent her years raising “a baseball team” of eight children while her husband worked for both the railroad and post office. She’s been receiving pension since he passed from a massive heart attack in 1993.
The two began attending MSB Community Outreach in April of 2009 after dealing with months of rising food costs. Ola receives $119 in food stamps to supplement her pension. Now that she has two sons who recently lost their jobs living with her, Ola says that the food stamps, “…don’t last a month, maybe two weeks after you contribute some cash out of your pocket.”
“The economy has fallen,” Alberta notes about the $130 of food stamps she receives. “With the prices of food so expensive, even with the food stamps it doesn’t give you enough to last you the whole month.” The two are happy they have the Capital Area Food Bank agency to turn to when they need a supply of fresh vegetables, starches and other canned goods.
Find out more about the Capital Area Food Bank.