Barbara Willing, 69, an artist who’s worked on and off at Walmart and Lowe’s, has struggled to make a steady income in recent years as she suffers from an autoimmune disease. She bought her home in Victor, Montana — a small town 35 miles south of Missoula — more than twenty years ago and is still paying off her mortgage.

“I have to keep the place I’m in, even though it’s inadequate in a lot of ways, because to move would cost me so much more,” Willing said, noting that her home has electrical and plumbing issues. She said that the fear of losing her home “continues to loom and gnaw on my conscience and nerves.”

Willing has been out of work since July and is looking for her next sales job, but she worries her aging car won’t last long traveling the nearly two-hour roundtrip commute to Missoula should she find a job there. Without any retirement savings, she said she’s relying largely on her small Social Security checks, a local food bank, SNAP, and disability benefits to make ends meet.

“I’ve gotten over the anguish, the humiliation of having to go to the Missoula Food Bank,” she said. “I actually like going there now, and I tell them how great they’re doing.”

Have you considered volunteering at your Food Bank?