Churches Work to Meet Rising Requests for Food, Utility, Housing Aid

by

The Call, Holston Conference | October 17, 2025

Key points:

  • As families struggle with rising food, housing and utility costs, more are turning to local churches for assistance.
  • ​Pastors say their community members are worried as recent legislation -- and the ongoing government shutdown -- could leave some low-income families with fewer resources to make ends meet. 
  • While generous people are helping ministries in Holston Conference meet the rising needs, ministry leaders offer suggestions for how others can help. 

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The Rev. Melissa Malcolm says that "blessing box" food pantries in her town are emptier in recent weeks, as even the least popular items like canned vegetables and dried beans are getting snapped up.

The Rev. Clay Holt says that 20 families have come to his Pearisburg, Virginia, church for emergency housing this year – ten times the number in 2024.  

John Reviere notes that in Greeneville, Tennessee, his church has already received more than double the number of applications for utility or rent assistance in 2025 (42), compared to last year (20).

The Rev. Danielle Goad just started a new Saturday food pantry for people whose jobs prevented them from coming to her ministry's regular pantry on Tuesday. Fourteen new clients walked in to get help last Saturday in Rosedale, Virginia.

In Holston Conference, local churches are in the center of a storm of rising food, utility and housing costs. Several church leaders report that the requests for aid have risen over the last months, and their communities are fearful as recent legislation is expected to leave some low-income families with even fewer resources to make ends meet.

“I could fill our ‘blessing box’ at St. Matthew five to six times a day and still wouldn't be meeting the need,” says Malcolm. “We hear a lot of fear and worry from the community at The Table about having enough food for their families.”

Malcolm is pastor of St. Matthew United Methodist Church and Emory United Methodist Church in Kingsport. She’s also a founder of The Table of Kingsport, a one-year-old “dinner church” that now routinely welcomes more than 100 for a Monday night meal. On Oct. 13, they served 139.

Grocery prices have increased almost 30 percent over the last five years, with a large spike happening over the summer, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and NPR. Families relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy food are likely to see cuts soon as a result of the “Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law in July. If the current U.S. government shutdown continues, Americans could be affected by SNAP losses as soon as November 2025.

“One parent said it’s such a relief to her that on Monday night, meals are taken care of,” Macolm said. “There’s an underlying fear that things they do have are going to disappear.”

Malcolm said the mini food pantries known as “blessing boxes” on church lawns are harder to keep supplied.

“About a year and a half ago, most of the foods that disappeared were things that kids would eat,” she said. “About two or three months ago, the canned vegetables started going. When the dried beans started going, I knew we were dealing with senior citizens.”

At First United Methodist Church in Pearisburg, Pastor Clay Holt says that more families are being evicted and in need of an emergency hotel stay.

“The story is always the same. They couldn’t afford the rent anymore. They are at a crossroads between paying for food or paying for rent,” he said.

The number of renters who spend more than the recommended 30% of their income on housing hit an all-time high of 22.6 million Americans in 2023, with 12.1 million spending half or more of what they make on rent, according to a recent report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The situation may worsen with proposed cuts to federal housing assistance.

Holt says that donations from church members enable his congregation to offer $75 maximum assistance per family, per year, with referrals to a county-wide commission for additional aid. In the last year, requests for rent assistance at his Giles County church have actually dropped -- “as homelessness has risen and people have been priced out of housing.”

At Asbury United Methodist Church in Greeneville, John Reviere said that $48,947 was spent on rent and utility assistance in 2024. Asbury has already provided $41,660 in assistance in 2025, through the donations of church members.

“This week alone we’ve had requests for utility assistance, rent assistance, and eviction assistance,” Reviere said. He’s bracing for the colder months ahead, when applications typically surge.

At Elk Garden School Community Ministry in Rosedale, Goad was inspired to try the Saturday food pantry for the first time on Oct. 11. She was rewarded with 14 first-time participants. On Tuesdays, the Elk Garden pantry serves an average of 30 families but in recent months, the number has sometimes spiked to about 50.

Goad said that some of her clients have recently experienced SNAP cuts, including a working single mother who saw her aid reduced by 90%.

“There is anger, understandably, because some of them don’t know what they’re going to do,” said Goad, director of the Elk Garden ministry. “When there’s no money, there’s no way to stretch the money.”

At Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Etowah, Tennessee, the Rev. Jason Humberd says the food pantry is now serving at least 75 more people per week than in previous months.

“We are open two days per week, 2.5 hours per day,” Humberd said. “There are many coming in who have never been to a food pantry. They say that the price of food has gone so high that it makes it difficult for their family.”

The pantry at Wesley Memorial is a community effort supported by other churches in Etowah and by local businesses. “And where the needs have increased, the giving from the community towards this effort has also increased,” Humberd said.

In response to a query on Holston Conference’s Facebook page, other United Methodists said their churches are also experiencing increasing requests for aid. The churches include Centenary in Erwin, Tenn.; Hixson in Hixson, Tenn.; Ft. Oglethorpe in Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.; Shades of Grace in Kingsport, Tenn.; Kingston in Kingston, Tenn.; First in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Cedar Bluff in Cedar Bluff, Va.; Alexander Memorial in Bishop, Va.; Concord in Knoxville, Tenn.; Jones Chapel in Del Rio, Tenn.; and Lonsdale in Knoxville, Tenn.

Leaders of benevolence ministries in these Holston Conference churches suggested ways that other church members can help their neighbors in need, if they are not already.

“The future is community-centered fundraising,” Malcolm said. “You don’t have to try to do it on your own. If you see someone doing something, join them.”

Malcolm points out that supplying a blessing box is demanding and expensive, for instance. Other churches with blessing boxes would likely welcome donations of shelf-stable foods to help feed their neighbors.

When donating to a blessing box or food pantry, Humberd reminds contributors to "consider giving food that they would want to eat themselves.” In high demand are protein-packed cans of chicken or cans of meaty soup. Also consider giving foods easily accessible for neighbors without shelter or functional kitchens, such as ready-to-eat tuna packets or dehydrated foods in easy preparation bowls.

Goad emphasized that “every little bit helps” when making financial donations to ministries serving community members in need. She was grateful when, shortly after she announced a new Saturday pantry at Elk Garden, a person walked in with a $1,000 donation to help make it happen. 

Goad is also grateful for the person that faithfully gives $100 a month and the food pantry recipient who insists on giving $5 every time she gets a food box.

“She’s like the widow who doesn’t have much of anything but she still gives. That, to me, is the testament of loving your neighbor,” she said.

Holston Conference includes United Methodist churches in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and North Georgia, with main offices in Alcoa, Tennessee

Annette Spence is editor of The Call, Holston Conference’s news publication.  Sign up for a free email subscription to The Call. This article is republished with permission.