'Many in our community are still suffering': Food insecurity takes the stage at SXSW
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — A North Texas CEO is hitting the big stage at South by Southwest in Austin to cast light on the issue of food insecurity.
Benaye Wadkins Chambers is the CEO and president of Crossroads Community Services in Dallas. The nonprofit helps combat food insecurity through distributions, community pantries, and summer lunch programs. "Many in our community are still suffering and some even worse now because this has been a prolonged issue," she said.
Wadkins Chambers added that one of every five people who live in Dallas does not always have access to sufficient or good-quality food. "Often when people come to Crossroads, they're surprised that our numbers are actually increasing again."
She believes that the rise in people seeking help may be connected to job loss and the expiration of pandemic-era SNAP benefits.
It's an issue she's personally familiar with.
"I experienced food insecurity as a child," Wadkins Chambers said. "So, to be able to now step into this space and talk on behalf of the people served at Crossroads and the people being served across the world, it's really an honor."
Crowds at the festival will have the chance to hear Wadkins Chambers talk about what's happening at the ground level. They will also be able to learn about how organizations like Crossroads are offering new and innovative solutions.
"Building nutrition stable communities, that starts with community markets like Crossroads," Wadkins Chambers said. "It's putting those markets in our schools. Then it's mobile markets, going into the communities."
It all comes down to one primary solution.
"There are solutions, we just have to be willing to partner together," Wadkins Chambers said. "There have to be some risks taken, there have to be some financial investments made."