HUNGER SERIES: LSA SHELTERS FAMILIES FROM FOOD INSECURITIES

Last year, the Lynn Shelter Association placed 67 families — comprised of some 300 individuals — in permanent housing. There are 64 units in the association’s three family shelters, and each family gets a key to their own room, which includes a small refrigerator and food cabinet. The shelters also have large kitchens and congregate dining areas. LSA provides families with a safe, supportive space and three meals daily from the Greater Boston Food Bank. Snacks are also provided. Mark Evans, executive director of the Lynn Shelter Association, and Tom Lorello, director of Clinical Operations and Training, said food issues mostly occur before and after individuals and families become LSA clients. “When they’re with us, there is food, they are fed,” said Lorello. “Before they join us and when they leave us, there’s often a choice: rent or electricity or food.”

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