Nearly 1 in 4 people in Huron, South Dakota, are below the federal poverty line according to the Huron Salvation Army. However, the organization is taking action in the form of a warm meal.
The Huron Salvation Army is holding nightly soup kitchens to fight hunger in the city. Dixie Yohn is the volunteer serving food tonight. Chili and bread are on the menu, paired with a choice of either milk, coffee or water. She said the dinners are a communal space for people.
“So, I’ll go out and I’ll sit with them, or my husband’s usually with me and he’ll go out and sit with them and just ask if anybody needs prayer, and we’ll pray with them," Yohn said. "It’s really fun. I think this is where my niche is.”
These soup kitchens were started a little before Thanksgiving in response to the uncertainty surrounding SNAP benefits during the federal government shutdown. The Salvation Army has continued to hold them even with the government reopened.
Lt. Justin Bluer with the Huron Salvation Army said people need the assistance no matter the reason.
“It’s not always about getting a meal. Sometimes the other things that people need out of that is the community, the fellowship and just being around other people because there’s a lot of lonely people out there," Bluer said. "And they kind of use this to kind of help with that.”
However, Bluer doesn’t undermine the importance of having the food available, especially during tough times.
“There’s a lot of people that struggle with that sort of insecurity, and it comes along with the economy issues that people are having. Food’s a necessity,” Bluer said. “You know, you need food to live. So, it’s always kind of on the backs of people’s minds. So, when you have some sort of economical collapse or crisis that you’re going through in your life, that’s probably a lot of times that’s the first thing you think about.”
Bluer said he’s seen an uptick in people using the Huron Salvation Army’s services as economic conditions have trended down the past few years.
He said they plan to continue the soup kitchens through at least the end of the year.
“If there’s still a need, then we’re going to keep spending the resources on it,” Bluer said. "We know our community. We know who probably really needs it or [if they're here] more just for the fellowship. If we still have a half a dozen people even that we feel are benefitting from getting this meal in the evenings, then we might keep it going."
Bluer adds if the need dies down, they’ll adjust accordingly or provide other means to connect people to the food they need and broadcast that via social media pages.
In addition to the nightly soup kitchens, the Huron Salvation Army also hosts lunches every weekday from 11:30am-12:30pm, as well as weekend sack lunch giveaways. Bluer said they get anywhere from 35-50 people daily for those meals. They also serve 10-14 families through their food pantry program.
Bluer said in addition to tackling hunger, he'd like to see the organization help out the homeless in Huron too.
Homelessness in Huron
There is no homeless shelter in Huron for individuals who are temporarily without a safe space to sleep.
The general public might not see people sleeping on the streets or in other public areas at night. However, Lt. Bluer said that doesn’t mean there is no homeless population, and that poses a challenge.
“A lot of the people in the community, especially the city officials, I mean, we’ve got wonderful people in Huron,” Bluer said. “But it’s kind of hard to help them to see the vision of any sort of homeless shelter if they’re not seeing the homeless issues, if they’re not seeing people sleeping on the streets, in the parks.”
Bluer added the Huron Salvation Army is trying to bring awareness to the issue, to create a place for people to sleep when in need. He said his operation knows of at least 10 people in Huron right now dealing with homelessness and are without a “safe, and habitable place to live.”
He said the organization provides assistance, but it can’t create a long-term solution on its own.
"The only resources that we really have right now in Huron, as far as a place that just helps somebody that’s living in the streets, is a hotel room for a night or two,” Bluer said. “And unfortunately, that doesn’t really provide that much assistance for somebody that needs to save up a couple of paychecks to get into a new place.”
Bluer said what they’d like to do is create a family transitional shelter in the city to ease those pains and create a space for people to stay 60-90 days.
“Because that would give them an opportunity to save up for a first month’s rent and a security deposit,” Bluer said.
He said the closest shelter is two hours away in Sioux Falls.
“We have places for people that are struggling with mental crisis, people that are going through recovery, people that need help, we have a safe house in Huron for domestic violence cases,” Bluer said. “But we just don’t have a place for a mother and a child to go to, or a single man even, a place for them to go to until they can get back on their feet again."
Bluer said the biggest obstacle right now—and first step to change--is garnering community support.
