Survivor Stories: Theresa Taylor utilizes food insecurity experience to become advocate for those who are hungry

Theresa Taylor’s experiences with food insecurity started at a young age. Growing up in Bernie, Mo., she remembers her family getting assistance from local food banks and churches. Her dad was on Social Security, and her mom worked part-time as a waitress. Their combined income for a family of six wasn’t enough to make ends meet. Taylor married at 18, but after her husband Michael lost his job, they moved to Tennessee to stay with family. Within two years, they were living out of their car.

“Money was tight,” Taylor says. “We didn’t have a place to cook, so we’d go to Family Dollar or Dollar General to get easy food; stuff you could carry in a backpack.”

Taylor visited the welfare office and reached out to local churches for assistance. She had worked at Sonic in the past, and people at the church helped her get re-hired at a different location. Aware of her situation, the manager allowed Taylor to wash her uniform at work. While the income helped, they were still without a home.

In 1983, they moved back to Missouri. Taylor worked as a CNA at a nursing home in Dexter, Mo., and on the chicken farm at the Tyson Foods plant, which she lived close enough to, to walk to work. Due to her husband’s health, he remained unemployed. They had two children and were struggling to keep up.

“I was trying to figure out how to budget food,” Taylor says. “I had to forget my pride. It didn’t bother me. I asked the churches [for assistance] again.”

After a stay in Texas where Taylor’s husband passed away, she settled in Sikeston, Mo., in 2009. Now, as a widow on a limited income, Taylor gets a monthly food box from the Southeast Missouri Food Bank. The supply of beans, rice, dried milk, healthy cereals, canned fruits and vegetables reduces the number of tough decisions she has to make daily or weekly.

“The box of food makes [my money] stretch,” Taylor says. “I don’t have to decide between medicine and food.”

Last year, while in line to receive food, Taylor learned about an action council helping to solve food insecurity issues within Southeast Missouri. Taylor took the information and showed up to the next meeting. Since then, she has been working with the council, the Sikeston police chief and the Scott County Transit Authority to address the current needs in the community and to discuss possible solutions.

In June, Taylor traveled as one of 50 neighbor-advocates chosen to attend the Elevating Voices Power Summit hosted by Feeding America in Washington, D.C., a “nationwide network of food banks, food pantries and community-based organizations in the United States working to create a future where no one is hungry,” according to feedingamerica.org. Natasha Goolsby, community outreach coordinator at Southeast Missouri Food Bank, accompanied Taylor. Throughout the four days, Taylor sat in on advocacy training sessions, had conversations with decision-makers and built connections with peers nationwide.

At the summit, Taylor met Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, who shared that “food is medicine; if you’re not getting the right foods, you’re not going to be healthy.” But flying on an airplane for the first time, a bucket-list item for Taylor, came in as a close second highlight of the trip.

“I was scared to death, scared of heights,” Taylor says. “But [Goolsby] put me by the window, so I could take pictures, and we had the best pilot in the world. It was smooth sailing.”

As an advocate, she wants to see more people get involved with the food banks and have a heart for the homeless, the elderly and others dealing with food insecurity. According to Taylor, it’s an issue that “affects the whole neighborhood. And with the prices of everything going up, it hurts. You’re not getting more food stamps.”

Because of this, Taylor pays attention to the people around her, those who live nearby or are just passing through. If she sees someone with a backpack, she takes notice. Sometimes, she stops for a conversation or runs into the store for a granola bar, water or juice. If she has $5, she often gives it.

As a Christian and fellow human, Taylor believes all people deserve respect.

“While the Israelites were wandering around for 40 years, God supplied them with food,” Taylor says. “I’ve been there. I’ve been homeless. If there’s anything I can do to help, I will.”

Hear Theresa Taylor tell her story in her own words Tuesday, Oct. 29, at the Survivor Stories event at Scout Hall, 420 Broadway St. in Cape Girardeau. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the event starts at 5:30 p.m. Reserve your complimentary ticket at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/survivor-stories-tickets-1014912770417.