Brandon L. Robbins is the executive director of Ginny’s Helping Hands, Inc. in Leominster.
Updated: March 24, 2025
Advice
Homelessness and hunger create a domino effect of need in our communities
By Brandon L. Robbins
In January 2024, the federal government released a report on homelessness in America. The statistics were staggering: an 18% increase in homelessness, mostly driven by lack of affordable housing, natural disasters, and the end of pandemic assistance impacting individuals across our country.
Currently in North Central Massachusetts, there is a waiting list of more than 150 people seeking housing at just one of the many shelters in the region. These people are waiting in our parking lots, under bridges, in tents, and maybe on the couches at various friend’s houses.
When individuals and families are homeless, it is difficult to find and prepare nutritious food. When highly-processed foods are consumed regularly, the result leads to health issues and medical complications. As the executive director at Ginny’s Helping Hands, we serve communities by providing those in need with a hand up with obtaining necessities. That’s the reason why our founder, Ginny White, opened this organization: To ensure that no one in our neighborhood is hungry, cold, or without a place to live.
The need is increasing. When Ginny first began providing services in North Central Massachusetts, she welcomed 9 to 11 families daily. Today, as our nation’s cost of living increases, Ginny’s Helping Hand is experiencing a higher than usual number of people needing help. In 2024, the needs in our area more than doubled, as we served more than 53,000 clients, with approximately 17,900 households. As a sad reality, some of our clients who were financially stable a year ago are now having to reevaluate their budgets.
It's not just dollars, it’s also sense of community. While I am grateful for the many donors and partners who help us with funding to buy and transport nutritious food, we need to do more. We need our neighbors to help us stock shelves with nutritious foods that our homeless can prepare and access, such as cans of tuna, canned vegetables, protein drinks, peanut butter, and even frozen meats and veggies. Adding a few extra items to your grocery cart and dropping them off at Ginny’s can help us feed more clients.
Empathy goes a long way. I see people at what is likely the worst time of their lives, so a big part of my job is giving them hope and ensuring they know they are not alone. Empathy can go a long way by offering a kind word of encouragement or by showing you care by volunteering at a food pantry.
Find your people. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it’s the same for helping those in need. Enter the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Institute Class of 2025. The class, which includes more than 20 community leaders, chose Ginny’s Helping Hand as beneficiary of its class community project.
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