Feature: Life pressure builds on as Americans celebrate Christmas

People gather at a backdoor of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in a bid to get free food and other stuff in New York, the United States, on Dec. 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)

NEW YORK, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The hardship many Americans have been experiencing since the COVID-19 era now gained momentum, as the fall of Christmas on Monday bolstered shopping spree but burdened common people with mounting pressure of life amid the persistent inflation.

In the west of Central Park in New York City, a number of residents gathered at a backdoor of St. Michael's Episcopal Church Saturday morning in a bid to get free food and other stuff from the church.

Staff members from the church handed out gloves and other goods from time to time. Visitors also picked clothes and shoes from the site. Most of them left the site with their bags and shopping carts full as they were asked to "share" things among themselves.

In the east of Central Park, people kept coming to New York Common Pantry around noon on Saturday to get grocery packages, though the charitable organization had no plan to provide pantries as usual due to holiday rearrangement.

A few residents rang the bell, talked to personnel from New York Common Pantry and then left with their hands or bags empty.

Jose Aristeo, living close to the common pantry, came to the place for the second time on Saturday afternoon. After learning of the rearrangement, Aristeo said he had nothing to do and had to relax with it.

Carrying a shopping cart, Aristeo said, "I'm coming two times because I don't know what's going to happen today ... I can't figure out this for my sister ... I looked so tired because I got asthma."

Though not serving pantries, New York Common Pantry did continue to hand out food in brown bags in the afternoon of both Saturday and Sunday with quite a number of people in the queue.

Jose Gonzalez, a staff member of New York Common Pantry, said he expected to hand out brown bag meals to around 150 to 200 people each day.

Gonzalez said the number of visitors went up horrendously in the last one or two years, noting that his visitors had large families and a new shelter was opened up in the vicinity. "There are so many people, and they just keep coming. And we keep serving. We don't turn nobody away until everything is handed out."

New York Common Pantry is expected to serve over 11 million meals in 2023 up from around 6.3 million prior to the pandemic, according to Stephen Grimaldi, executive director of the organization.

New York City has 1.7 million people receiving benefits from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program each month and many New Yorkers rely on food pantries or free meal programs.

Food insecurity is threatening more Americans as hovering prices bite into their purchasing power.

As much as 12.8 percent of households in the United States faced food insecurity at least some time in 2022, higher than 10.2 percent in 2021, said a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2023.

RECORD-HIGH HOMELESS

The population of homeless people in the United States rose 12 percent year on year in 2023 to around 653,000, the most since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007, according to a recent report released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Experiences of homelessness increased nationwide across all household types," said the report.

The number of unsheltered individuals increased by 20 percent in 2023 with major metropolitan areas in focus.

In San Francisco, California, hundreds of children are waiting for shelter as Christmas approaches, according to a nonprofit that tracks homelessness on behalf of the city.

The city has seen a surge of domestic homelessness in recent months while its largest emergency family shelter is full, according to the nonprofit that runs the facility, Dolores Street Community Services.

Staff at the shelter said they've been forced to turn away around four families every night due to a shortage of beds and food.

"They're in crisis. They're desperate for help. It's unconscionable," said Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project. "It's absolutely ludicrous and disgusting."

HIGH PRICES BURDEN MIDDLE CLASS

As the holiday season rides on, the U.S. middle class continues to face pressures from high prices with credit card balances topping 1 trillion U.S. dollars in the third quarter for the first time and the share of credit card debt falling behind reaching 8 percent in Q3, up from 6.5 percent in Q1 of 2023, according to statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

"Inflation is still a real problem. Sure, the (inflation) rate is going down, but it's still increasing. All those increases have stayed and there's just less money at the end of this year even though we haven't changed what we've been doing," said Jon Lauck, lawyer and author from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Lauck added that he and his wife were kind of over the part of the holidays that were about gift giving, but he did say his wife was buying about 300 dollars worth of clothes for their kids, which was about the same as pre-COVID-19.

"Things are a little tighter because I just bought a house," said Nicole Garza, a mental health professional from San Antonio, Texas. The cost of things is something she worries about, though.

"Everything is going up over the last two years. In Texas, the prices are going up, but my pay isn't," said Garza, adding that she tried not to spend over 1,000 dollars for Christmas this year.

A staff member from New York Common Pantry hands out brown bag meals to a man in New York, the United States, on Dec. 24, 2023. The hardship many Americans have been experiencing since the COVID-19 era now gained momentum, as the fall of Christmas on Monday bolstered shopping spree but burdened common people with mounting pressure of life amid the persistent inflation. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

A staff member from New York Common Pantry hands out a brown bag meal to a man in New York, the United States, on Dec. 24, 2023. The hardship many Americans have been experiencing since the COVID-19 era now gained momentum, as the fall of Christmas on Monday bolstered shopping spree but burdened common people with mounting pressure of life amid the persistent inflation. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

A man in a wheelchair holds a cardboard and begs for help in New York, the United States, on Dec. 24, 2023. The hardship many Americans have been experiencing since the COVID-19 era now gained momentum, as the fall of Christmas on Monday bolstered shopping spree but burdened common people with mounting pressure of life amid the persistent inflation. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

A person sleeps on a bench outside Central Park in New York, the United States, on Dec. 23, 2023. The hardship many Americans have been experiencing since the COVID-19 era now gained momentum, as the fall of Christmas on Monday bolstered shopping spree but burdened common people with mounting pressure of life amid the persistent inflation. (Xinhua/Liu Yanan)