She lost her job in the

pandemic. She can't even afford

the dollar store to feed her kids
By Alaa Elassar, CNN
How Obama and Trump administrations compare on unemployment

Airline furloughs loom for thousands of workers

Furloughed worker: 'I'm at the top of the roller coaster with no harness'

Mom juggling work and remote learning: I can't maintain this

(CNN)When Lauren Bell lost her high-paying job because of the coronavirus
pandemic, she found herself in a position she never thought she'd be in.
The dollar store is the only place with food this single mother of two from Lake
Worth, Florida, can shop. Those are the good days.
The bad days are when she's so penniless that she has no choice but to pilfer
items.
"There's been multiple times where I had to steal food, no matter how bad that
sounds, just to make sure my kids can eat," Bell, 23, told CNN. "Sometimes
there's just nothing else I can do."

Nearly 40% of low-income workers lost their jobs in March

Bell is matter-of-fact and open as she speaks about hunger. Because it is her
reality.
And it is the reality of millions of families with children across the country in
this pandemic era.
Right now, one in three families with kids in the US are experiencing food
insecurity. That's double the rate since 2018, according to a new analysis
from The Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative that offers proposals
and policy options.
It's higher than levels of food hardship among children at the peak of the
Great Recession.
"Food security means families don't have sufficient food to provide an active
and healthy lifestyle, but most importantly it means they don't have sufficient
resources to go out and purchase more," Lauren Bauer, a fellow at The
Hamilton Project, told CNN.
"While food insecurity always rises when there's an economic downturn, what
is shocking about it this time is that it's disproportionately affecting families
with children and children themselves."
Children in low-income households are facing the brunt of the effects the
pandemic has had on food insecurity because they were once dependent on
school to provide them with two meals a day.
Many schools across the country are back in session -- but remotely.
"These families are stressed, and it is incumbent upon Congress to target
these families as they continue to look at the next round of Covid-related
assistance," Bauer said.

School meals are not enough, parents say

Erin Bailey, another single mom of four in Florida, lost her job due to the
pandemic and has been relying on her children's lemonade stand and
her GoFundMe campaign to make ends meet.
Months behind on rent and bills, Bailey said the government and local officials
have done little to provide support to families like hers.
Erin Bailey and her four children are relying on a lemonade stand to make money for food.

The Pandemic-EBT program, which provides low-income families with money

to replace the free or reduced-price meals their children would have received
in school, ends on September 30 unless extended by lawmakers. Yet many
families, including Bailey's, say they need more than that to put food on the
table.
"The food stamps aren't enough. We run out of them so quickly," Bailey told
CNN. "Even the meals they got from school weren't enough to keep any child
fed. Usually it's a bun and a slice of meat and cheese on it, maybe a box of
raisins. It's great, but it's not enough to keep my children full."

Some children don't even qualify for

assistance
For Bell, every attempt at getting help has been met with rejection. Children
under the age of 5 who were not in school did not receive any food assistance
from the Pandemic-EBT program, meaning her 8-month-old and 2-year-old
daughters didn't qualify.
"I got denied for the EBT program because my kids weren't in school, just in
daycare," Bell said. "I only got WIC, and the one stimulus check. My
application for unemployment has been pending for months. Our lives are
nothing but stress."

She lost her business due to coronavirus. Now she's supporting her four children by running
their lemonade stand

Both mothers say they have resorted to skipping daily meals to make sure
their children are always fed. Bell, who was laid off from a data entry job, lost
nearly 20 pounds in the past two months from her irregular diet.
Ramen noodles, eggs, milk and plain pasta have become both family's meal
staples. Proteins like beef, fish and chicken have become luxuries neither
family can afford.
"It feels like us single parents are on a sinking ship without life boats, and
there is nothing more we can do but hold onto something while the ship goes
down," Bailey said. "It makes you feel beyond helpless when everything you
tried and all the assistance you tried to get ended up getting you nothing."