Some elderly struggle with poverty to make ends meet

from The Wausau Daily Hearld

By Brian Reisinger
Wausau Daily Herald
breisinger@wdhprint.com

Among the people turning up at local food pantries, a significant and increasing number are elderly residents, aid workers say.

"That's an unexpected portion of the population (to be poor)," said Tom Rau, director of The Neighbors' Place on Scott Street in Wausau.

The Neighbors' Place has seen the number of elderly people requiring its services swell in recent years, Rau said. Three years ago, the elderly made up no more than 31 percent of those served by the pantry. Now, the number fluctuates between 35 percent and 38 percent, Rau said.

Covenant Community Presbyterian Church on Weston Avenue in Schofield also has seen an increase in the number of seniors, said the Rev. Sid Bouldin.

At The Salvation Army of Marathon County, the elderly make up a "large percentage" of recipients, said Capt. Brian Goodwill.

The number of struggling seniors highlights the perils facing an aging population stuck on fixed incomes as costs of living rise, aid workers say.

In Marathon County, the number of people ages 65 and older living below the poverty level has hovered at about 7 percent or 8 percent since 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Bonnie Buntrack, 72, of Wausau works at The Neighbors' Place and receives goods there. It's difficult to make ends meet on Social Security, and she's not able to do strenuous or demanding work. With no children and having divorced her husband in the 1980s, Buntrack has long cared for herself.

The elderly face a number of specific challenges, aid workers say. Many have lost a spouse, have difficulty working and must pay for extensive medications.

"I think that they're kind of a hidden population because of the fact that they are very frugal," said Deb Menacher, executive director of the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin.